King of Games
by crosstrigger333
Summary: DigimonYugiohCardcaptorSakura crossover When a Clow Card causes a computer gaming program to kidnap Kari in the Digital World, it's up to TK, along with Yugi and Sakura, to win the day. COMPLETE
1. Prologue

I've read some good Yu-Gi-Oh/Digimon crossovers, and a couple CCS/Digimon crossovers too. Now, prepare for my newest concoction, Digimon/Yu-Gi-Oh/Card Captor Sakura crossover! I think it's the first of its kind, and it actually IS a story. Anyway, R&R!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Card Captors, or Digimon.  
  
The King of Games  
by crosstrigger333  
  
Prologue  
  
In Domino City, the Board of Kaiba Corp staring in awe at their new computer program. One of the men smirked at it. "Finally, Mr. Champion will be defeated by us! This is the ultmate game program, it is unbeatable! Meet King!" Seto Kaiba, the world Duel Monsters champion, wanted the board to be kicked out after an agreement with Maximilian Pegasus to sell Kaiba Corporation's technology to him. He had told them that he would allow them to stay only if they could find some way to beat him at a game of Duel Monsters, without using Yugi Moto, the only one besides Pegasus that had ever beaten him.  
  
Mokuba Kaiba looked through a crack in the doorway. "No, Seto..." he whispered.  
  
"Quick," urged one of the board members. "Put in the deck and see how it does!" Another member got up and picked up the test Duel Monsters Deck. as he ran to the computer, however, he tripped and dropped all of the cards. "Shoot!"  
  
"Hurry!" urged another board member.  
  
"Coming!" yelled the one who dropped the deck. He was putting them all back into a pile when he noticed something.  
  
'I've never seen THIS card before,' he thought. It was a strange magic card, with a picture of a checkerboard on a green background.  
  
"What's taking so long?!" yelled an exasperated board member. The one with the cards shrugged and put the card in the deck and inserted it into the slot where it was supposed to go.  
  
"Now, let's get this program started!" laughed the leading member. He pushed 'Enter' to start the program. It began to work, until sparks began to fly everywhere.  
  
"What's going on?!"  
  
The computer began to smoke.  
  
"*cough* Hey, *cough* what's happening?!"  
  
"I don't know," the leader answered, staring. The computer screen began to blur and then swirl. Right then, the machine exploded.  
  
***********  
  
"AHH!" 15-year-old Sakura Avalon gasped, waking up from a dream. She was still on the train to Tokyo with her best friend Madison and her boyfriend, Li.  
  
"Sakura?" Li asked, worried. "Something wrong?"  
  
"Nothing, just a weird dream, that's all," Sakura told him, forcing a smile.  
  
"You know where those dreams have gotten you before," Madison warned.  
  
"I know, I know," sighed Sakura. Li's eyes suddenly widened.  
  
"Li?"  
  
"I sense something," he gasped. "A-Another Clow Card!"  
  
"Another one?" came a muffled voice from inside a Sakura's bag. She opened it to reveal a small flying bear, Kero. "I only know of a few more than what we already have. Sakura, can you tell us your dream?"  
  
"It's weird, I'm playing this game of chess against Li, when all goes dark. I then see these playing cards, and then a checkerboard, and then a couple of dice. Another Chess board appears, and on this one, the King jumps off and grows arms. And he pulls out a sword and tries to skewer me."  
  
"Games? This has to be the new one," said Kero. "Guys, I'd like to introduce to you the ultimate winner, the Game Card."  
  
***********  
  
"I play Celtic Guardian, in Attack Mode! Your turn." said 15-year-old TK Takaishi, playing a game of Duel Monsters against his friend, Davis Motomiya. The two boys had become interested in the game after seeing the broadcast of Yugi Moto defeating the creator of the game, Maximilian Pegasus. This was earlier this year.  
  
"What good will that do?" laughed Davis. "I sacrifice my two monsters in Defense mode to play Gaia the Fierce Knight! And now he'll wipe out your Celtic Guardian no problem!"  
  
"Not so fast, Davis," smirked TK. "You've activated my trap card, Mirror Force. This destroys all monsters on your side that are in attack mode. Namely, your knight and all your other monsters."  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
"And since I have 1200 life and you've got 2600, I'll play Megamorph on Celtic Guardian, doubling his attack points. He's now got 2800 attack points. And I attack you directly, bringing your lifepoints to 0!"  
  
"Ah..." Davis stared at his friend.  
  
"I won. You pay for the pizza," TK smirked. The crowd of people watching them clapped.  
  
"I can't believe you two are still playing that silly game," a voice came from behind Davis. That voice belonged to Kari Kamiya. Davis and TK had both fought over her in the past, until Davis had given up. They had become good friends after that.  
  
"Duel Monsters is not silly," snapped Davis.  
  
"Whatever," Kari rolled her eyes.  
  
"So what kind of Pizza would you like, Kar?" asked TK. "I won, so Davis is buying." Davis crossed his arms and muttered something under his breath.  
  
Meanwhile, Izzy Izumi was surfing the web when he noticed something.  
  
"A disturbance in the Digital World?" he wondered. The disturbance seemed to be caused by a renegade program coming from...Domino City.  
  
**********  
  
There's the Prologue. Good, Bad, Okay? It's my first crossover, and I know it's kinda rushed. Review! 


	2. Magician's Kidnapping

King of Games  
  
Chapter 1  
  
'The Game Card', thought Li as he, Sakura, and Madison got off of the train to Tokyo. Li wore a red jacket with blue jeans and a white undershirt.  
  
"Odaiba at last!" yawned Madison, stretching in her white T-shirt and skirt.  
  
"Finally!" laughed Sakura. Sakura wasn't wearing one of those crazy costumes, but a normal pink tank top with blue jean shorts. Li turned to his girlfriend and her best friend and smiled. They seemed to be enjoying this. 'But still,' he thought. 'I have a feeling that that card will make its appearance soon.'  
  
Cards!  
  
'Sakura saw it in her dream.'  
  
Cards!  
  
'I can't stop thinking about those cards now.'  
  
"LI!" yelled Sakura, waking him up from his trance. "Hey, come on! Don't you want a pack of these?"  
  
Li turned to see Sakura holding up a fresh pack of Duel Monsters Game Cards. "Those aren't the kind of game cards we want, Sakura," Li joked.  
  
"Lighten up, Syaoran," laughed Madison. "I've heard this game is really cool. We'll each get one pack. How's that sound?"  
  
Li smiled. "Right. Maybe it'll give us some strategy on getting the Game Card."  
  
"Would you stop thinking about that?" Sakura demanded. "We're here in Tokyo to have fun! Not gather Clow Cards. Let's just grab a pack of these and we'll play at the hotel!"  
  
"Yeah, it was a stroke of luck that Sakura won this trip in that contest, Li, so lighten up!" smirked Madison.  
  
"Right, let's each take one and go," the Chinese boy laughed.  
  
"Okay, so you'll have to pay 3,600 yen now," said Sakura. Li pulled out his money and gave it to the seller. 'Kind of expensive,' he thought. He then looked at Sakura and Madison.  
  
"Aren't you going to pay for yours?" he asked.  
  
"Why should we when you just paid for us," Madison giggled right before she and Sakura ran as fast as they could. It took Li a second to realize what just happened.  
  
"HEY! GET BACK HERE, YOU CHEAPOS!"  
  
**************  
  
"Izzy pointed to coordinates to here," said Ken, looking at the map on his D-Terminal. The Digidestined looked around. All of them, although older, were still wearing the same clothes that they had before. They were in the middle of a desert and there wasn't even a digimon in sight.  
  
"Weird," said Cody. Yolei hung onto Ken.  
  
"There's something weird going on," thought TK, as he, Kari, and Davis walked along behind the other three. Suddenly, the ground shook.  
  
"What's happening?!" asked Kari.  
  
"Kari, hang on to me," Davis told her. Kari was about to grab the boy's arm when the ground opened up to reveal a dark figure. It was a humanoid with dark black hair. He was in a cloak that's entirely black and was holding a staff. In fact, he looked familiar to TK and Davis.  
  
"W-What is that thing?" gasped Yolei.  
  
"Not any digimon I've seen before," Kari told her.  
  
"Duel..." the man whispered, pointing his staff at the Digidestined. Suddenly, a ball of dark energy shot out at them from it.  
  
"Look out!" cried Cody as the digidestined dodged the attack.  
  
"That's it!!" yelled Davis. "DIGIVOLVE!"  
  
"Right!" the digimon all said at the same time.  
  
"Veemon digivolve to...Exveemon!"  
  
"Armadillomon digivolve to...Ankylomon!"  
  
"Hawkmon digivolve to...Aquilamon!"  
  
Ken, TK, and Kari stayed back, realizing that just digivolving and attacking was reckless and risky.  
  
"Stop!" yelled Ken.  
  
"V-Laser!"  
  
"Tail Hammer!"  
  
"Blast Ring!"  
  
The man took his staff and held it in front of him. Some sort of barrier formed in front of him and knocked the three attacks back at the attackers.  
  
"He's strong," grumbled ExVeemon.  
  
"Duel..." the man said in a silent whisper. He then pointed his staff at TK.  
  
"Huh?" TK thought out loud. The man leapt at him. Kari noticed this and gasped.  
  
"TK!!!!!"  
  
Kari jumped forward and pushed TK aside, while being knocked out herself by the man.  
  
"Kari!" cried TK. He ran over to her unconscious body, but the evil man glared at him with his evil, glowing yellow eyes. TK's eyes widened suddenly. "YOU!"  
  
"Duel..." the man whispered and picked up Kari's limp form.  
  
"Let her go, you creep!" demanded Gatomon, when he teleported away right before her eyes.  
  
"Kari, no..." TK began to cry. "No, not by him...I've failed her."  
  
"TK, I just realized something," Davis told him. "Didn't that guy kind of look kind of like...the Dark Magician?"  
  
"A Duel Monster?" asked Ken. "How could that be?"  
  
"Kari's gone, and it's all my fault!" TK screamed at himself.  
  
"Guys, it's late," Cody told them. "We'd better get home, we can find a way to get Kari back later."  
  
"Yeah, later," TK muttered. 'I swear, Kari. If it's the last thing I do, I'll rescue you.'  
  
"We'll get her back, TK," Patamon assured him.  
  
They walked back to the digiport. TK remembered that his mom had an interview with some people she wanted him to meet. She had never said who though...  
  
****************  
  
Ms. Nancy Takaishi was sitting at her computer, finishing a report on the importance of homework. She had to before her son, TK, got home, because that would be when her special guests would arrive. The doorbell rang all of a sudden. Nancy sighed and saved her work. She answered the door to reveal four kids about her son's age. One was a short kid with a strange hairstyle. Another was a taller guy, with messy blond hair. A brown-haired boy with his hair well groomed stood next to the blond, and a pretty brunette girl stood behind them.  
  
"You must be the kids I'm supposed to interview," Nancy smiled.  
  
"That's us," the brunette girl answered for her.  
  
"Right," Nancy invited them in. "Sorry my son's not here, he's with his computer club again. He would love to meet all of you."  
  
"That's alright, Ms. Takaishi," the blond told her. "We'll wait for him."  
  
Nancy smiled. "Now, which one of you is Yugi Moto?"  
  
TBC...  
  
*************  
  
Very short, I realized that. Sorry, but finals are coming up again and my time has been pushed this way and that. Summer vacation's almost here, so I'll write more then, okay? Well, R&R. 


	3. Many Meetings

King of Games  
  
Chapter 2  
  
TK trudged home in despair. He had never felt so guilty in his life. 'Kari, it was my fault,' he thought. Just then, he accidentally bumped into a pretty brunette girl, who fell down in front of him.  
  
"Oh, sorry," he apologized quickly and helped her up.  
  
"Sakura, are you okay?" asked a black haired girl running up behind her.  
  
"Yeah, fine," Sakura smiled. "It was an..."  
  
"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" a chinese guy yelled at TK.  
  
"Li, calm down, it was an accident," Sakura assured him. She turned to the blond. "Sorry about my boyfriend's behavior, but he's just a bit overprotective of me."  
  
"Yeah, I know someone like that," TK cracked a smile. "Sorry about that, I've just had a lot on my mind."  
  
"Hey, maybe you could give us directions!" Madison piped up. "Do you know where the Odaiba Hotel is?"  
  
"The hotel? That's only a block away from my place, I can show you there."  
  
"Great!" Sakura laughed. "It was a stroke of luck that we bumped into you, Mr..."  
  
"Takaishi. My name is TK Takaishi."  
  
"I'm Sakura Avalon and this is my best friend, Madison. Over there's my boyfriend, Li."  
  
"Well, come on, I'll show you to the hotel," TK told them, and lead them to their destination.  
  
'I sense something about him,' Li thought to himself. 'He is not a normal child...'  
  
TK walked past the Kamiya's apartment and stopped to look at it.  
  
"TK?" Sakura asked, worried. "Is something the matter?"  
  
"No," TK choked, a single tear escaping his eye. "Nothing at all. Listen, the hotel would be only a couple of blocks that way. Make a right turn over there and you'll be right in front of it."  
  
"TK? Are you feeling alright?" Madison asked him.  
  
"Yeah," he whispered. "Just fine."  
  
"Okay then," Li sighed. "Well, thanks for the directions, TK."  
  
"I guess we'll see you around," smiled Sakura.  
  
"Yeah, see ya..."  
  
************  
  
"Where is he?" Nancy Takaishi paced around the room angrily awaiting the arrival of her son.  
  
"Calm down, miss," Tristan told her. "We can wait for him."  
  
"Besides," smirked Joey. "I can always beat him up for not showin' up on time."  
  
"Joey, you are such a pain," Tea muttered.  
  
"I'm home!" a voice came from the door.  
  
"TK! You're here!" Nancy cried happily.  
  
"Yeah, sorry, but I got a little side..." TK walked in and saw the group. "...tracked."  
  
"So, you're Takeru Takaishi, I presume," Yugi smiled at him.  
  
"Y-Yugi Moto?!" TK gasped. "You're our guest?"  
  
"Hey, what about me?" Joey demanded. "Everyone knows about Yugi, but no one bothers to hear about me! Sheesh, life is cruel."  
  
"And you're Joey Wheeler! You placed second in the Duel Monsters tournament at Duelist Kingdom!"  
  
"Finally, someone who knows me! Another adoring fan!" laughed Joey. Tea and Tristan sweatdropped.  
  
"Idiot," muttered Tristan.  
  
"Oh, TK, this is Tea Gardner and Tristan Taylor," Yugi introduced them. "We always travel as a group, so I hope you don't mind some extra company."  
  
"Not at all," Nancy answered for him. "TK, these people will be staying with us for the next week."  
  
"Them?! Stay here?! In our place?!"  
  
"Is it so hard to believe?" asked Joey.  
  
"He's still in shock," Nancy told them. "He plays Duel Monsters as well."  
  
"Maybe we can give him a few pointers," suggested Yugi.  
  
"Pointers?! From the King of Games?!"  
  
"TK, why don't you go to your room and change?" Nancy told her son. "I'm sure that this can wait."  
  
***************  
  
"What do you mean 'not normal'?!" Sakura asked Li. It was 9 P.M. in the Odaiba Hotel room, where the three friends were talking.  
  
"That Takaishi kid is not normal," Li repeated for her. "Is it so hard to believe?"  
  
"But he was so nice, and kinda cute too," Madison sighed. "Not normal? Is it possible?"  
  
"There was just something about him," Li sighed. "I don't think he's evil or anything like that. It's just that, well, I sensed something about him. It was like he had just come from another world or something like that."  
  
"He was depressed! Don't you remember?" asked Madison.  
  
"Yeah. Sometimes that makes people seem out of place," Sakura told him.  
  
"I suppose you're right," sighed Li. 'But that's not what I meant...'  
  
***************  
  
TK lay on his bed, staring into space. Patamon lay asleep next to him, but TK couldn't bring himself to it. He kept thinking about the events that happened that day. He had bumped into three strange people, met the actual King of Games and his friends, and...  
  
"Kari..." She kept coming back to him. He couldn't stop thinking about her. Kidnapped by that Dark Magician while he stood by idly and watched her be taken from him. "I lost her," Tears made their way out of TK's cerulean eyes. He longed to see her again. He wanted her to be in his arms, to laugh with him, to be there with him. TK realized now that he had been living a lie this whole time. Even though crushes he went through have come and gone, he truly cared only about Kari. He loved her.  
  
TK decided that he was too awake to sleep. He picked up Patamon and walked out of his apartment for some fresh air. Meanwhile, he didn't realize that he wasn't the only one awake in the house.  
  
::He is distressed:: Yami told Yugi.  
  
:I know that: Yugi replied.  
  
::I also sense a glowing light within the boy. He is obviously not a normal boy::  
  
:Are you saying he's alien or something?:  
  
::Nothing of the sort. He is human, no doubt, but it is rare to find one so full of light in this cruel world of ours. He has the innocence of a young child. I suggest we talk to him::  
  
:WE?:  
  
::You and I, aibou. He needs someone to talk to. If we tell him our secret, he may tell us his::  
  
:His? What do you mean, Yami?:  
  
::You will see soon enough. Follow him and clear things up. It may all turn out for the best::  
  
****************  
  
"TK? What are we doing out here?" asked Patamon, who had woken up. They were sitting on a bench outside his apartment.  
  
"I couldn't sleep," TK told his partner. "I was thinking too much about Kari."  
  
"I miss her too, TK," Patamon told him.  
  
"So, that thing can talk," a voice behind them made them jump. The voice revealed itself to be...  
  
"Sakura! What are you doing here?!" TK gasped.  
  
"I came out of the hotel for a walk," she smiled. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your friend. What's his name?"  
  
"I'm Patamon!" the digimon greeted her warmly. Sakura giggled at the digimon's childish antics.  
  
"Li told me he sensed something that wasn't normal about you," Sakura told him. "I finally see that he's right. Don't worry about it, though. I myself am not a normal girl."  
  
"Looks like we all have secrets to talk about," another voice came so suddenly it made TK and Sakura jump. They turned to see Yugi smiling at them. "Come on," Yugi suggested. "Let's go somewhere more private." Sakura looked at TK and Patamon. They nodded. All of them seemed intent to find out what destiny has done for them now...  
  
***************  
  
To be continued...  
  
Now that TK, Yugi, and Sakura have all met, how will things turn out for the three? And what about Kari? The Game Card? And the Mysterious Dark Magician? Find out in Chapter 3!  
  
Now that school's out, I can write again! Hooray! I sorta rushed into the meetings, but the story must go on. Review! 


	4. Secrets Revealed

King of Games  
  
Chapter 3  
  
The time was quite late, as nearly all of the great city of Tokyo was asleep. Nearly. Three teenagers and a digimon, who had only met an hour before, sat in a gazebo at Odaiba Park, talking.  
  
"So, who wants to go first?" asked Yugi.  
  
"I will," said Sakura. "I'm not a normal girl, as you all know. I am really a Card Captor."  
  
"Card Captor?" asked TK.  
  
"What's a Card Captor? Do you go around collecting cards like Duel Monsters or something?" Yugi wondered aloud.  
  
"No," Sakura answered cooly. "I collect these." She held several strange looking cards in front of TK and Yugi. "They're called Clow Cards. All of them are extremely powerful and all are wild and need to be tamed. That's my job. Me and my boyfriend, Li Syaoran, have gone on many adventures to capture all of these cards, until a final judgment day placed me as the owner."  
  
"I see, kind of," TK was still trying to piece everything together.  
  
"But now I realize not all of them have been captured," Sakura continued. "A new one has been discovered. It's called the Game Card, and my friend tells me that it's the ultimate winner."  
  
"Friend?" Yugi questioned.  
  
"She means me," a muffled voice in her bag said. Out popped a small flying yellow bear. "Hi! I'm Kero!"  
  
"Whoa," TK stared at it. "What is this?"  
  
"The search for the Clow Cards began when I was ten," said Sakura. "That was when I opened the ancient mystical book of Clow, and the cards escaped. Kero was the guardian of the cards and came out of the book. He's been helping since this whole thing started."  
  
"You mean to say that all those magical cards were guarded by this guy?" asked Patamon. "He looks like Pikachu!" (A/N: I don't own Pokemon either!)  
  
A vein popped out of Kero's head. "WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME?!"  
  
"I'm just surprised that so much power was protected by a flying teddy bear," Patamon smirked.  
  
"TEDDY BEAR?! Well, better a flying bear than a flying pig," Kero said with his own devilish smirk. Now a vein popped out of Patamon's head. The two began to argue.  
  
"Anyway," Sakura continued, ignoring the digimon and the guardian beast. "To get the Game Card, you must defeat him in a sort of game, like chess or chinese checkers or..."  
  
"...Duel Monsters," TK finished for her. She nodded.  
  
"I can help you there," said Yugi. "I was dubbed the King of Games by winning the Duel Monsters competition at Duelist Kingdom."  
  
"That's not much of a secret, now is it?" TK asked.  
  
"No, but this is," Yugi held up the golden puzzle that hung around his neck. "This is the Millenium Puzzle. It came from ancient Egypt, and holds a great power within it."  
  
"A power?" Sakura asked. "What sort of power?"  
  
"I'm not too sure myself," Yugi smiled. "But I think I'll let my 'other' speak for me."  
  
"'Other'?" TK and Sakura asked.  
  
Just then, the Millenium Puzzle began to glow. Yugi closed his eyes for a second, and when he opened them, they turned from innocent and childlike to mature and more serious. Sakura sensed an immense amount of power coming from the small pyramid.  
  
"Hello, I am Yami," said the new Yugi. TK and Sakura immediately noticed the difference between the two. "I am called that because it means 'darkness'." TK's eyes hardened at the word.  
  
"Were you...evil?" asked Sakura.  
  
"Not at all," Yami smiled. "I was once a Pharoah in Ancient Egypt, who locked away a game that could've destroyed the world. Other than that, I remember nothing."  
  
"You must really want to know about your past, huh?" TK asked. He had calmed down a bit.  
  
"Yes indeed," Yami sighed. "I'm afraid I don't have much of a secret to tell you about."  
  
"Are you kidding?!" laughed Sakura. "Who knew that the world famous Yugi Moto had an alter ego? That's secret enough for me!"  
  
  
  
"Sakura, you may want to quiet down," TK whispered in her ear. Sakura nodded and blushed in embarassment.  
  
"Now, Takeru, please tell us your secret," Yami told TK. The blond sighed.  
  
"With all your 'ancient powers' I'm ashamed to say mine are quite recent," TK told them. "My power comes from another world."  
  
"Do tell," Yami and Sakura listened intently.  
  
"In a parallel universe, there is a Digital World, created by data from computers and the dreams of people. When I was eight, I was sent to that world along with my older brother and five other Chosen Children by recieving these." TK held up his digivice. "There, I met my Digimon, Patamon." He turned to Patamon, who was still arguing with Kero.  
  
"Digimon?" asked Sakura, curiously.  
  
"Digital Monster," TK told her. "They are the creatures that live in the Digital World. Anyway, we battled many digimon by allowing our digimon to Digivolve to a more powerful monster using our digivices. They are loyal partners and will do anything to save us. Even be killed," TK looked to the ground, remembering the battle against Devimon. "However, they can be reborn into a new, baby digimon. Eventually, we recieved crests that allowed our digimon to digivolve to an even HIGHER level. These crests represented qualities within our hearts. Mine is Hope. After a while of being stuck in the Digital World, we followed a dark digimon, Myotismon, into the Real World."  
  
"When all of those monsters attacked Tokyo!" Sakura remembered from the news when she was eight.  
  
"Exactly. There, we met the eighth Chosen child, Kari," TK saddened at the name. "With her new crest, Light, we could defeat Myotismon and bring peace once again to both worlds. However, we had to go back to the Digital World to stop a more powerful evil, the Dark Masters. We eventually did, and we had the fight the ultimate evil digimon, Apocalymon. Using the powers of our hearts, we defeated Apocalymon and all was back to normal."  
  
"Sounds like an everlasting game of Duel Monsters," Yami told him.  
  
"Not at all. That's the thinking that lead to our second adventure. Kari and I had to lead a new group of Chosen Children. We had to battle another Chosen that we had never met, who claimed himself to be the digimon emperor. He restricted our Digivolving, so we needed a new way to digivolve. That was armor digivolving, using Metal Digieggs. We beat the Emperor, and he realized the the Digital World was not a game. He joined us and helped battle more evils to the return of Myotismon as MaloMyotismon. From there, everything's gone uphill."  
  
"Wow," Sakura was still taking in all that TK had said. "But what got you so depressed this afternoon?"  
  
"Well, it was Kari," TK told her. "She...was kidnapped in the Digital World earlier today, by a Dark Magician."  
  
Yami's ears perked up. "Dark Magician?"  
  
"Like the one in Duel Monsters, only pure black," said TK. "In a nutshell, Kari got knocked out saving me, he got Kari, faced me, said 'Duel', and left."  
  
"Duel?" asked Sakura. "He wanted to beat you in a game of Duel Monsters or something?"  
  
"I guess," TK shrugged.  
  
"Sakura, you mentioned something about a Game Card?" Yami asked her. Sakura looked at him and nodded.  
  
"I see," Yami smiled. "What exactly does this Game Card do?"  
  
"It challenges everyone it wants to a...game?" Sakura looked at TK. "And losing the game makes you pay the ultimate price."  
  
"Wait, are you saying that Dark Magician is somehow related to the Game Card?" TK asked.  
  
"It's possible," Yami answered. "Either way, it sounds like you'll have to beat the Dark Magician in a duel to get Kari back, am I right?"  
  
"Yeah," TK answered. "Yami, I beg of you, you have to train me!"  
  
"I'll do more than train you, TK," Yami told him. "I'm going to help you improve your Dueling Deck, and I would be honored if you allow me to fight by your side."  
  
"Me too," Sakura told him. "I've got a deck as well, and who knows? If Yami's theory is correct, I'll get the Game Card as well as help you guys out."  
  
"Then it's settled," said Yami, who right then reverted back to Yugi. "Since we've all got decks, how about we go to Domino City tomorrow after my interview? My Grandpa can help you guys out with your decks too."  
  
"Cool," TK and Sakura said at the same time.  
  
"Anyway, it's about 3 in the morning now," Yugi yawned. "We'd better get back home to sleep. We've got a long day tomorrow."  
  
"Yeah, see you then!" Sakura called as she separated Kero and Patamon and ran toward the hotel. Yugi and TK walked back to their apartment, ready for the day to come.  
  
**********************  
  
To be continued...  
  
There! Chapter Three of this story is done! I'm going to be in China for several weeks for vacation, so please, in your reviews, tell me which of my stories you want me to continue. I've been working hard on 'King of Games', and I'd really appreciate knowing that I'm working on the right stories for you guys. Thanks! 


	5. Battle of the Blondes

King of Games  
  
Chapter 4  
  
After TK's talk with Yugi and Sakura, he was more confident in being able to get Kari back. He needed to be able to Duel like a pro against the Dark Magician. Yami's theory of the Game Card did make some sense. TK looked at his deck and sighed. He needed a tough Dueling Partner, and he had beaten everyone he knew, but they were hardly pros, much less powerful gamers like the Game Card. His deck wasn't one worthy of any real tournament. He designed it to be a Turnaround deck, a deck that could change the course of the game in his favor, but it wouldn't always work out as he planned.  
  
"Hey, TK, feeling better?" a feminine voice came from behind him.  
  
"Hi Tea," TK smiled.  
  
"Yo, Teeks, how's it goin'?" Joey said as he came in after her.  
  
"I'm better," he told them. "I take it Yugi went with my mom for his interview?"  
  
"Yeah, Tristen went with him. They'll be back by tonight," said Tea. TK frowned. 'I guess we'll have to postpone going to Domino City for tomorrow.'  
  
"While we're at it, why don't I see what you can do?" smirked Joey.  
  
"Excuse me?" asked TK and Tea at the same time.  
  
"I wanna see this guy Duel," laughed Joey. "I hear he's pretty good."  
  
"Who told you that?" asked Tea.  
  
"I dunno, made that up," Joey smiled sheepishly. TK and Tea sweatdropped. "Come on, Teeks, it'll be fun," Joey continued.  
  
TK sighed. "Alright, Joey, I accept your challenge!"  
  
****************  
  
The two boys sat at opposite ends of TK's coffee table.  
  
"Okay, TK, since you're the beginner, you can make the first move," Joey told him.  
  
"Sounds fair to me," TK agreed.  
  
"Ready TK?"  
  
"Ready Joey."  
  
"DUEL!" they yelled at the same time.  
  
TK: 4000  
  
Joey:4000  
  
The two drew five cards, and TK drew his first one.  
  
"I play a monster card face down in defense mode," said TK. "And I play this card face down on the field. Your move, Joey."  
  
Joey drew his card. "I play Axe Raider, in Attack mode!"  
  
Axe Raider - ATK: 1700/DEF: 1150  
  
"You've activated my trap, Joey," TK smirked, flipping his facedown Card. "Trap Hole! It destroys a monster you summoned to the field with an Attack Power higher than 1000. Axe Raider is in the Graveyard."  
  
"Shoot," Joey muttered. "Fine, I play a card face down. Your turn."  
  
TK drew his next card and smiled. "Heavy Storm! It destroys all magic and trap cards on the field, including your face down ones!"  
  
"What?!" gasped Joey.  
  
"Now, I play Celtic Guardian, in attack mode!"  
  
Celtic Guardian - ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200  
  
"And I'll flip the monster I had face down, Stone Soldier!"  
  
Stone Soldier - ATK: 1300/ DEF: 2000  
  
"Now, I'll attack with both of them! Bringing your life points to 1300!"  
  
TK: 4000  
  
Joey: 1300  
  
'TK took Joey down to 1300 on his second turn,' thought Tea. 'He hasn't even lost any life yet.'  
  
"Drat! Well, I guess it's my turn," Joey sighed. He drew a card. "Graceful Charity! I can draw three cards but I have to discard two." Joey drew his three and thought for a second, and smirked as he discarded two of his cards. "Alright, Teeks, comeback time!"  
  
"Huh?" asked TK.  
  
"I'll play Panther Warrior, in Attack mode!"  
  
Panther Warrior - ATK: 2000/DEF: 1600  
  
"Big deal," said TK. "Panther Warrior can only attack when you offer one of your monsters as a tribute."  
  
"Or one of yours," smiled Joey, "when I play Change of Heart!"  
  
"What?!" gasped TK.  
  
"I'll reel in your Celtic Guardian for this," said Joey taking TK's monster. "Now, I'll have Celtic Guardian attack Stone Soldier to start my Battle Phase."  
  
TK: 3900  
  
Joey: 1300  
  
"And finish my Battle Phase by sacking your Guardian and having Panther Warrior attack you directly! Your life points go down to 1900!"  
  
TK: 1900  
  
Joey: 1300  
  
'Looks like Joey's coming back, but TK's still ahead,' Tea thought to herself.  
  
"My turn," TK drew a card. "I can't do anything but place this monster in defense mode. Your turn."  
  
Joey drew his next card. "I play a card in defense mode as well, and I play two cards face down on the field. Go TK."  
  
'He's not attacking. Must have some strategy in mind,' thought TK as he drew his card. "I'll play Change of Heart on your Panther Warrior and use it as a tribute for Summoned Skull!"  
  
Summoned Skull - ATK: 2500/ DEF: 1200  
  
"I'll attack your defense monster with Summoned Skull now!"  
  
"Not so fast, TK. You activated MY trap card, Mirror Force! It destroys your monsters in attack mode: Summoned Skull, to be exact. Your Defense monster is still alive."  
  
"Crud," muttered TK. "Your move."  
  
Joey drew his card. "I'll play Pot of Greed to draw two more cards," he said, drawing them. "And I play Blackland Fire Dragon in attack mode."  
  
Blackland Fire Dragon - ATK: 1500/DEF: 800  
  
"I'll attack your Defense monster with my dragon now!"  
  
"Okay, you've attacked Beta the Magnet Warrior!" said TK, flipping his defense card.  
  
Beta the Magnet Warrior - ATK: 1700/DEF: 1600  
  
"Since Beta the Magnet Warrior's Defense power is 100 over Blackland Fire Dragon's Attack, you lose 100 Life Points"  
  
TK: 1900  
  
Joey: 1200  
  
"What was that Joey?!" yelled Tea. "You've never made THAT mistake before!"  
  
"Shut up, I know what I'm doing," Joey told her.  
  
"Okay, Neo the Magic Swordsman in Attack Mode!" yelled TK.  
  
Neo the Magic Swordsman - ATK: 1700/DEF: 1000  
  
"I'll have Neo attack your Blackland Fire Dragon now!"  
  
"That won't be happening," smirked Joey, turning over his face-down card, revealing it to be...  
  
"Magic-Arm Shield! I can redirect that damage to one of your face-up monsters in defense mode, namely, destroying your Magnet Warrior!"  
  
TK: 1900  
  
Joey: 1200  
  
'That's what he was planning!' thought TK. 'Since Beta WAS face down, his Magic-Arm Shield couldn't work, so he used his Blackland Fire Dragon to turn him face up, knowing that I probably set a monster with higher defense than that! He really is a pretty good duelist after all!'  
  
"Now, it's my turn," smiled Joey, drawing his next card. "Now, for my next performance, I'll send my two monsters to the Graveyard as tributes for my Red Eyes Black Dragon!"  
  
Red Eyes Black Dragon - ATK: 2400/ DEF: 2000  
  
"And I'll also use my Monster Reborn card to take the Summoned Skull from your Graveyard!"  
  
"My skull? Fine, take it!" said TK.  
  
"Now, for my grand finale! I'll use Polymerization to merge your Skull and my Red Eyes to summon Black Skull Dragon!"  
  
"Holy crap!" gasped TK.  
  
Black Skull Dragon - ATK: 3200/DEF: 2500  
  
"Black Skull Dragon, attack Neo the Magic Swordsman!" laughed Joey.  
  
TK: 100  
  
Joey: 800  
  
"The tides have turned, TK. You're 100 life points away from losing!"  
  
'He's right,' thought TK. 'No monster in my deck can beat that dragon without a couple of Tributes! I'm going to lose, and if I lose to Joey, what chance do I stand against the Game Card?'  
  
TK hesitantly began drawing his final card. 'NO! I mustn't think like that! I have to win, to prove to myself that I can beat the Game Card and rescue Kari! Well, here goes...'  
  
TK closed his eyes and drew. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw what it was.  
  
"Well, Teeks, ya going or not?" asked Joey. A smile appeared on TK's face.  
  
"I admit Joey, you're far beyond your reputation as a Duelist," said the blond. "But this game ends now. Fissure!"  
  
"Fissure?" wondered Joey. "What's that?"  
  
"It's a magic card. It destroys the face-up monster with the lowest Attack on my opponent's side of the field. Since you have no other monsters, this card will destroy your Black Skull Dragon!"  
  
"What?!" gasped Joey. "No way!"  
  
"Way. Now, I'll finish the duel, by playing another Neo the Magic Swordsman!"  
  
Neo the Magic Swordsman - ATK: 1700/DEF: 1000  
  
"And now, for MY grand finale! I'll have Neo the Magic Swordsman attack your life points directly!"  
  
TK: 100  
  
Joey: 0  
  
"And I win!" laughed TK.  
  
"He WON?!" Joey gasped in surprise. Tea was shocked as well at TK's dueling skills. TK just smiled and stuck out a hand to Joey.  
  
"You're a great Duelist, Joey," he smiled sheepishly. "If you ask me, I have no clue why no one bothers to mention you as a finalist."  
  
Joey smiled back and shook his hand in friendship. "I wonder why I've never heard of you before, Teeks. You're a great Duelist. I think you could've made the finals at Duelist Kingdom with that skill."  
  
TK blushed at the comment. "Really?"  
  
"Yeah, TK, I think you could have since Joey had," Tea remarked. "Hey, there's a Battle City Tournament coming up in a couple months! Maybe you can participate! Yugi and Joey are, and I'm sure you can do great in it!"  
  
"Maybe. I'll have to think about it," TK told her. "All this dueling has made me hungry. Anyone want something to eat? I'll buy."  
  
"All right!" laughed Joey. Tea sweatdropped.  
  
"You're gonna be sorry you said that, TK," she told him. TK snickered at her comment.  
  
"HEY! THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" Joey yelled, making TK and Tea laugh harder. TK smiled afterwards.  
  
'I can do it,' he thought. 'I can save Kari...'  
  
********************  
  
To be continued...  
  
Well, what do you think of TK's first full duel in this fic? This chapter was basically introducing you to TK's dueling methods, and I figured, 'Who better to pit him against than Joey?'  
  
By the way, these cards are based off of Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Eternal Duelist Soul for the GBA, but the 4000 life points thing was from the show. If you don't see any of these cards in the show, they are cards from that game (Neo the Magic Swordsman, for example, is one of my favorites). Yes, this duel is slightly based off of experience. R&R! 


	6. Sakura's First Duel

King of Games _Chapter 5_

It was midday in Odaiba, and the three visitors from Reedington were sightseeing, enjoying their visit for the week. Sakura kept thinking about her talk with Yugi and TK the night before.

*******************

"The Game Card," Kero had told her, "is one of the most unusual of the cards. It cannot be defeated by the use of another Clow Card straight on. Only by the wit and skill of its opponent in a game can it be weakened enough for capture. However, you must beat it, or suffer the consequences. Otherwise, its power of mind control will become a great threat on mankind."

*******************

"Hey, check it out, Sakura!" Madison pointed to a large Game Shop.

"Hey, it's got one of those holographic duel arenas!" Li exclaimed. "We can watch people play Duel Monsters in 3-D! Maybe we can learn how to play." Sakura nodded. She figured that playing Duel Monsters would be the only way to beat the Game Card, as she had Yugi, the world's best duelist, and TK, whose friend was in need, to aid her in this battle.

As they entered, they saw a crowd of people watching a duel take place between two boys. One was a guy in his late teens with green hair that looked as if it had been gelled for at least ten hours. (**A/N:** **Isn't all anime hair like that?**) His black T-Shirt had a picture of a sword on the front. The other was a boy Sakura's age. He wore a dark red T-shirt with a blue dragon symbol on it. On his maroon colored hair there lay a pair of round goggles. (**A/N: Heh, guess who it is!**)****

"Your move, Motomiya!" snickered the older teen. "Although I don't know why you should bother! My Swordstalker is much tougher than that Axe Raider of yours."

Davis: 2200 Rick: 2100 

'Nice bluff, considering that kid's life points are over his own,' thought Li.

"How come both life points are over 2000?" asked Madison. "I thought that the game started with both duelists at 2000 life."

"These are the new rules of Duel Monsters," explained someone beside them. "Both players start at 4000 life, and you are able to attack your opponent directly if there are no monsters on your opponents side of the field."

"And you have to offer tributes to summon monsters with a power level over 4," another person told them. "This makes the game more exciting and even more unpredictable."

"Wow," gasped Li. "Those monsters look so real!" He stared in awe at the Axe Raider facing off against a Swordstalker. 1700 Attack vs. 2000 Attack.

Davis drew his card. "Okay, I'll play a card face down and Celtic Guardian in Attack mode!" yelled Davis.

Celtic Guardian – ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200 (A/N: Celtic Guardian is also one of my favorite cards. I don't know why.) 

"And I'll equip Axe Raider with the Black Pendant, raising his attack power by 500 points!" A pendant appeared around Axe Raider's neck.

Axe Raider – ATK: 2200/DEF: 1150 

"Axe Raider, attack Swordstalker!" commanded Davis. The power-up Axe Raider chopped the dark swordsman into pieces, and the Swordstalker was destroyed.

Davis: 2200 

**Rick: 1900**

"Now, Celtic Guardian, attack directly!" Davis yelled. Celtic Guardian sliced down Rick's life points.

Davis: 2200 

**Rick: 500**

"How's that, Dagger?" laughed Davis. "Your move!"

"You live up to your reputation, Motomiya," snickered Rick, "as a _LOSER_!" He drew his card. "I'll play Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards, and discard two."

"Bring it on! My guys can take your guys any day!" Davis yelled.

"I play Mooyan Curry," said Rick. "Raising my Life points by 200!"

Davis: 2200 Rick: 700 

"And I'll play Raigeki!" he yelled.

"No! That destroys all of my monsters!" cried Davis. His Axe Raider and Celtic Guardian disappeared from the field.

"Black Pendant will deal me 500 damage, but it's a good thing I raised my life points, isn't it Davis?" Davis growled at him.

Davis: 2200 

**Rick: 200**

"The game ends now, Motomiya, 'cause Rick Dagger's warriors are unstoppable! I'll play Vorse Raider in attack mode!"

Vorse Raider – ATK: 1900/DEF: 1200 

"And I'll equip him with my Sword of Dark Destruction, raising his attack points by 400 and lowering his defense by 200!"

Vorse Raider – ATK: 2300/DEF: 1000 

"Vorse Raider! Attack his life directly!" commanded Rick.

"Not so fast!" smirked Davis. "You forgot about the face-down card I had. Your attack activated my trap! Negate Attack!"

"Crap!" yelled Rick. "That prevents all attacks made this turn! He's still alive!"

"And with an advantage," smiled Davis. "It's my turn." He drew a card. "What do you know? I'm going to win without playing a monster this turn!" he laughed. "Sparks! It's a magic card that deals 200 damage to my target opponent!" Lightning bolts flew from Davis's card to Rick's life points.

"NO!!!" cried Rick.

Davis: 2200 Rick: 0 

"How could I lose to such a chump?" he cried.

"Get off the arena!" yelled some guy.

"Yeah, you lost!" yelled another.

"Beat it, loser!" A mob formed around Rick Dagger and dragged him out of the shop, yelling and screaming.

"Who shall be my next victim?" Davis wondered aloud. He looked around, and his eyes fixed on Sakura. "I've never seen you before. Are you new?"

"I'm just on a vacation," Sakura told him.

"Do you duel?"

"Um, I have a deck…"

"Then come on up!" laughed the goggle-head. Sakura looked at Li and Madison for support. Li turned to the black-haired girl and smirked. Madison took out her trusty video camera.

"I want a tape of this!" she laughed. Sakura sweatdropped.

"Fine," she muttered. "This will be my first duel, but I'll accept your challenge!"

"What's your name? I'd like to know who I'm dueling before I beat them!"

"The name's Sakura! Sakura Avalon!" she yelled, climbing up the ladder to the arena. She took out her deck. 'This deck is pre-made. I know its contents, but the strategies are just going to have to come to me,' she thought to herself.

"Ready, Sakura?"

"Ready when you are!"

"DUEL!" they yelled at the same time.

Davis: 4000 Sakura: 4000 

"Since you're the beginner, you go first," Davis told her.

'If I don't beat him, I can't possibly stand against the Game Card. I need to hone my skills as a duelist!'

The two drew five cards each, and Sakura entered her Draw Phase.

"I play Dark Elf in attack mode!" she yelled. A monster similar to Mystical Elf appeared, only with tan skin and dark purple hair.

Dark Elf – ATK: 2000/DEF: 800 

"Your turn," she told him.

"A monster out in the open with no trap cards on the field," laughed Davis. "It really _is_ your first duel, huh?" He drew his card. "Axe Raider in Attack mode!" The orange Axe-Wielding brute appeared.

Axe Raider – ATK: 1700/DEF: 1150 

"I'll equip him with Legendary Sword, raising his attack and defense by 300!" A broadsword replaced the axe upon playing that card.

Axe Raider – ATK: 2000/DEF: 1450 

"And I play a card face down on the field to end my turn. Your move, Sakura!"

"Their attack points are even, so nothing will come of attacking each other," Li whispered to Madison. "But Davis has that card face down on the field. It might be a trap. Attacking would be relentless."

"This is so exciting," giggled Madison, taping Sakura's next move.

"Okay, I'll play a card face down on the field," said Sakura, "and I'll use my Dark Elf as a tribute for Summoned Skull!" The powerful skeletal warrior appeared in front of the crowd.

Summoned Skull – ATK: 2500/DEF: 1200 

"Summoned Skull, Lightning Strike!" commanded Sakura. Summoned Skull shot electricity from its horns to Axe Raider.

"This is really your first duel if you just attack like that," smiled Davis. "I play my face-down card, Mirror Force! It'll destroy your Summoned Skull, allowing me a direct attack!" A barrier formed in front of Axe Raider, reflecting its lightning back at Summoned Skull.

"Nope, not happening," smirked Sakura. "I'll use my face-down card! Seven Tools of the Bandit!"

"What's that do?" asked Davis.

"It's simple. I pay 1000 of my life points to negate the effects of your trap card. Mirror Force has been deflected back to Axe Raider!" A pocket knife appeared and had its destroy the barrier, while a mirror reflected the attack back at Axe Raider. 

"No way!" gasped Davis, watching as the lightning struck his warrior. His monster was destroyed.

Davis: 3500 Sakura: 3000 

'How could she negate my trap like that?' thought Davis. 'It's almost like she's dueled as much as me and TK before.'

"Alright, Sakura!" cheered Li. "That's it! Keep him on the run!"

"I'll end my turn. Your move, Davis," Sakura smiled.

"I won't be beaten so easily," said Davis, drawing his card. "I'll play Change of Heart on Summoned Skull!"

"What? Oh shoot!" gasped Sakura.

"You have no other Monsters on the field, so Summoned Skull attacks directly!" yelled Davis.

Davis: 3500 Sakura: 500 

"To end my turn, I'll use your Summoned Skull as a tribute for my Judge Man," smiled Davis. "Your move!"

Judge Man – ATK: 2200/DEF: 1500 

"He's got her in the same position as Rick Dagger," Li told Madison. "It looks bad for her."

"I don't know if she can make it, either," Madison answered. "He's 3000 life points over her, and she has no monster for defending her life points. She'll probably go for defense, but Davis can probably handle it."

Sakura drew a card. "I play a card face-down in defense mode," said Sakura. "And I'll end my turn."

"That's all you can think of?" laughed Davis. "I was expecting something big, like Raigeki or Fissure or something! Oh well." Davis drew his card. "I play Feral Imp in Attack mode!"

Feral Imp – ATK: 1300/DEF: 1400 

"Feral Imp, attack her defense monster!" commanded Davis. Sakura flipped the card, revealing it to be…

"Man-Eater Bug! Thanks for activating it for me," she laughed. "Its flip ability is that I can destroy any monster I want to. I think I'll have it kill off your Judge Man."

The insect crawled onto Judge Man and as it died, so did the club-wielding warrior. Davis stared at her Man-Eater Bug, eye twitching. Her insect with 450 attack points destroyed his Judge Man, all because he attacked it. This kind of thing lowers the morale of a duelist. (A/N: No kidding! I've been duped like that on the GBA game before!)

"Now, it's my move," said Sakura as she drew her card. "Oh wow. I'll play Neo the Magic Swordsman in Attack Mode."

'Hey, I know that card! TK plays with it!' Davis thought to himself. He watched the blonde spell caster appear.

Neo the Magic Swordsman – ATK: 1700/DEF: 1000 

"And I'll play Monster Reborn to bring back Summoned Skull!"

Summoned Skull – ATK: 2500/DEF: 1200 

"While I'm at it, I'll power up Summoned Skull with Axe of Despair, raising his attack by 1000!"

Summoned Skull – ATK: 3500/DEF: 1200 

"Crap, she's gonna beat me!" Davis cried.

"Neo, attack Feral Imp! Summoned Skull, attack his life points!" Sakura commanded. The blonde sword-wielding spell caster immediately struck down Davis's furry imp, while the mighty Summoned Skull sliced at the boy's life points with his Axe of Despair.

Davis: 0 Sakura: 500 

"Jeez, this was her _first_ duel?" Davis gaped.

"WOOHOO! I WON!" Sakura exclaimed. Everyone watching cheered, including Li and Madison.

"Wow, that was amazing!" Li exclaimed. Madison smiled as she got the Card Captor's victory on tape.

"We'll watch this at the hotel," Madison told him. "I have to see that again. Card Captor Sakura's first win at Duel Monsters."

"Hey guys! Did you see that?" asked Sakura, coming down from the arena. "I just won!"

"Great job back there, I watched the entire thing," a familiar voice said. Everyone in the area turned and was all, to say the least, shocked at who it was.

"Yugi!" Sakura called. "When did you get here?"

"I was in the neighborhood and decided to drop by. Great duel Sakura," Yugi smiled.

"Who is this girl?" asked Tristan, who just came up behind him along with Ms. Takaishi.

"Oh, I forgot, you don't know her," Yugi laughed nervously. "Tristan, this is Sakura, a girl I met yesterday. Sakura, this is Tristan, a friend of mine. And this is Nancy Takaishi, my interviewer."

"Takaishi?" asked Li. "Are you TK's mother?" Nancy just smiled at the boy and nodded.

"No way!" Davis screamed. "TK knows YUGI MOTO?! How come that dumb blonde never told me?"

"Yugi and his friends are staying with us for the next week," Ms. Takaishi told him.

"HE NEVER TOLD ME ANYTHING! THAT STUPID LYING SON OF A--"

"What do you think of this guy?" Sakura whispered to Madison.

"A bit hot-headed, but actually kind of cute," she answered. The friends laughed and left Davis to his grumbling about TK. Meanwhile, the people in the store watched the group leave, and then looked at each other.

"What just happened?" one person asked.

"We just met Yugi Moto," another guy answered.

"Well, close anyway," a third added. "He's staying at whose house?"

"I think his name was TJ or JB or whatever…"

*******************************

"So, how do you know TK?" Tristan asked Sakura curiously after introductions were made.

"We're here visiting from Reedington," Madison explained. "Sakura won this contest, and we bumped into TK yesterday."

"It appears TK has been making many friends since Yugi came to stay with us," Nancy smiled. "I'm glad. He was so depressed yesterday."

"Hey, Yugi!" another voice caught their attention.

"Téa!" Tristan exclaimed. "Joey! TK! You're all here!"

"What are you all doing here?" Li asked them.

"Well, I thought that Joey would like to improve his deck a little while he was here," TK explained. "I just lead them to the nearest game store and found all of you guys here!"

"Yeah, quite a coincidence, huh?" laughed Sakura.

After introductions were all made, Nancy piped up, "Hey! How about we all go out for dinner tonight? I've got enough money to invite all of you to a nice restaurant. What do you say?"

"As long as we go sightseeing afterwards," Madison told her. "I need a tape on our trip here."

"Sounds good to me," said Yugi. Everyone else agreed.

"Alright! We'll meet Sakura's group at the Odaiba Hotel lobby at 5 o'clock this afternoon," said Nancy. Joey's stomach began to growl.

"Aw man! 5? I need to eat now!" he complained.

"Joey, you idiot! It's 11 A.M.! We're going to have lunch before then!" Téa told him. Everyone laughed at the now blushing blonde. As they walked together, Sakura realized she forgot to mention something.

"Hey, did you guys know I won my first real duel? It was against this guy named Davis…"

*******************************

End Chapter! School started again, so that's why this took so long. Sorry. Also, if this story appears strange, it's because I tried saving it as an HTML document on Word, just to see if it works. Well, reviews would be nice right now. Thanks!


	7. Leaving for Domino

King of Games Chapter 6 

********************

_"Crap, she's gonna beat me!" Davis cried._

_"Neo, attack Feral Imp! Summoned Skull, attack his life points!" Sakura commanded. The blonde sword-wielding spell caster immediately struck down Davis's furry imp, while the mighty Summoned Skull sliced at the boy's life points with his Axe of Despair._

_"Jeez, this was her **first** duel?!" Davis gaped._

_"WOOHOO! I WON!" exclaimed Sakura. Everyone watching clapped._

********************

It was there that the tape ended. TK, Yugi, and the others were watching it at the café Nancy Takaishi took them to. "Amazing duel for your first one, Sakura," TK complimented her upon watching it. "You did a great job taking Davis out."

"Thanks, TK," Sakura blushed. "But what is your honest opinion?"

Yugi sighed. "Okay, here's the deal. You were extremely powerful for a first time dueler. TK and I are very impressed. But there were a few errors in your game."

"Like what?" asked Madison.

"Here's one," said TK. "I've dueled Davis more than anyone else, and I know that his main weakness is blindly attacking your defense monster with his monster of lowest attack, so if he destroys it, there would be more damage dealt. That thinking is what made him lose to me time and time again."

"So what?" asked Téa.

"When you set that Man-Eater Bug, Davis stupidly attacked it with Feral Imp," said TK. "Your life points were at 500, so no matter what monster attacked your life points, you'd lose. If he attacked with Judge Man, your insect would be forced to destroy his imp, leaving Judge Man on the field rather than Feral Imp. You would definitely not have been able to take him down in one turn had he done that, and have given him the chance to play Raigeki or something."

"But that was his mistake," said Sakura. "What could I have done?"

"What you should have done was play Monster Reborn right then," said Yugi. "You were intimidated by his Judge Man, and forgot about your Summoned Skull."

"It's little tactics like these that you must learn from experience," said TK. "But, great job in taking out Davis, anyway. That guy is way too cocky for his own good."

"Hey, the food's coming, you guys," said Nancy. Everyone sat down, as their food was being served.

"So, TK, what have you been doing?" asked Tristan.

"I almost forgot! You should see this guy duel!" exclaimed Téa. "He beat Joey!"

"Téa, you're making me blush," laughed TK.

"Really, you've beaten Joey?" asked Yugi.

"Yeah, I had even gotten my Black Skull Dragon out, and he just pushed it aside as if it was nothing," Joey told him, putting a large piece of steak into his mouth.

"Black Skull Dragon? Isn't that even more powerful than the Blue Eyes White Dragon?" asked Li, eating some noodles.

"Yeah, but neither can stand against a simple Fissure," shrugged TK, spearing a piece of fish.

"TK's right," said Yugi. "Nothing is unbeatable. Not even the most powerful of monsters can stand against everything. There is a way around every difficulty. Remember this."

"We will," said TK and Sakura.

**************************

"So you don't know where she is," Mrs. Kamiya said over the phone. (A/N: Don't know her name) "Okay then, thanks anyway." She hung up and plopped down on the couch.

"She's not there?" asked Mr. Kamiya. (A/N: Don't know his name either.)

"When I called Davis he said she was at Yolei's, but her sister said that she's not there," she told him. "I'm getting worried. She's been gone for a whole day!"

"What about TK? Those two are together so much that it's hard to imagine a time they were apart."

"I couldn't reach him before. Maybe I'll try again."

***************************

TK, Yugi, and the group had just gotten back when they heard the phone ringing. "Wow, great timing," said Joey as TK picked up the phone.

"Hello? Takaishi Residence."

TK! Thank goodness you're home!

"Mrs. Kamiya?"

TK, I want you to be honest with me. Do you know where Kari is?

TK gulped. 'Great, just when I was starting to feel better,' he thought to himself.

Do you know where Kari is? Mrs. Kamiya repeated.

'Think, TK, _THINK!_' he shouted at himself. 'You'll need something better than 'Some Duel Monster kidnapped her in the digital world.' Besides, I can't lie to save my life…'

"I'm sorry, I don't know," he finally said. "I haven't seen her today. If I do, I'll bring her home immediately, okay?"

Thank you, Takeru. Mrs. Kamiya told him before hanging up. TK breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't fully lie. He truly didn't know where she was, and he most definitely hadn't seen her that day. And once he did find her, he was bringing her home.

"Who was that, TK?" asked Téa. TK just stared at the phone.

"TK? Are you feeling okay?" asked Tristan. Yugi walked over to him.

"It's Kari, isn't it?" he asked. TK slowly nodded. Yugi smiled.

"Alright, that's it! We're going to Domino City tomorrow!" he proclaimed.

"Huh?" everyone stared at the teenager confused.

"TK's friend is in grave danger," Yugi told his friends. "We're going to Domino to turn him into a duelist. It's the only way we can win."

"TK, don't you dare leave your…" Nancy began.

"I'll get Matt to come over and take them around," TK interrupted. "Kari's life may be in danger. I have to be ready for a game that will decide her fate."

"He's right," said Yugi. "We're going to need Sakura for this job as well. All of us have a part to play in this game. We have to win."

"If Yugi's that determined," began Joey, "then I'm with him all the way. I may not understand what the heck's goin' on, but I know he'll always do the right thing."

"You never understand what's going on," chuckled Téa. "But we're all here to support you, Yugi. And you too, TK."

"We're with you all the way," said Tristan. "No matter what."

"Oh well," sighed Nancy. "I can never stop you from going on your little adventures, TK. Just come home safely, okay?"

"Will do, mom," TK smiled. Just then, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," TK said as he walked over toward the door, only to find…

"DAVIS! What are you doing here this late?"

"Hey, dude, just bringin' along a few friends to see Yugi Moto," he laughed. TK sweatdropped.

"This is a _few_?" Everyone who was in that Game Shop earlier covered the floor, making noise about the great King of Games. Yolei suddenly revealed herself within the crowd, wearing a t-shirt and some pajama pants.

"DAVIS, YOU IDIOT! SOME PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP, YOU KNOW?"

"But Yugi Moto's here," he whined. A vein appeared on Yolei's forehead.

"THAT'S IT! ALL OF YOU GET OUT! OUT _OUT_ **_OUT_**!" Everyone grumbled and left. Yolei then grabbed Davis by the shirt and shook him hard. "LISTEN MOTOMIYA! I DON'T CARE IF **YUKI MOTOR** OR WHAT'S-HIS-NAME IS HERE! I AM VERY CRANKY IF I GET NO SLEEP! YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE CRANKY YOLEI, GOT THAT?!"

"Yes ma'am," Davis squeaked nervously. Yolei then looked at the person watching her.

"Hi TK!" she smiled sweetly. "You don't mind if I pummel Davis right now do you?" Davis looked nervously at the blonde and mouthed a 'Please save me'. TK thought for a second.

"Nah, go ahead and pulverize him," TK smiled and went back inside, closing the door behind him. Yolei smirked and raised her fist at Davis, who gulped.

************************

"Back to the topic at hand," TK said as the sounds of an angry Yolei beating up Davis were heard in the background.

"Who was that girl?" asked Yugi.

"That's Yolei," said TK. "I think she should be able to knock some sense into Davis right now. Anyway, what time should we leave for Domino?"

"We'll leave first thing tomorrow," said Yugi. "I called Sakura while that incident was going on. She told me she'd take care of the rides."

"It's settled then," smiled TK. "I'll gather some of my things. We leave for Domino tomorrow!" His statement was finished by what sounded like a war cry from Yolei and a screaming Davis.

************************

The next morning, TK, Yugi, and Sakura all met in a secluded spot where no one would see them. After already saying goodbye to everyone, they decided to meet in an alleyway behind Odaiba Hotel.

"You have our rides?" asked Yugi. Sakura nodded and pulled out Kero. "Here he is!" TK and Yugi both pulled faceplants.

"You mean to say that Kero will have to carry us both to Domino?" asked Yugi. "He may be the Guardian of the Clow Cards but he's still a bit too small." Kero huffed at him.

"Teddy bear!" Patamon, who was reasting on TK's head, laughed at the winged bear. A vein appeared on Kero's forehead.

"_ALRIGHT, PIG! YOU WANT A TEDDY BEAR? I'LL GIVE YOU A TEDDY BEAR! TRANSFORM!_" Kero was enveloped by a yellow glow and transformed into Keroberos, the winged fire-breathing lion. "How's that for a teddy bear? I am Keroberos, Kero's true form!" he chuckled. Yugi and TK stared at the true form of the Guardian of the Clow Cards, shocked. Patamon smirked. "TK? A little help?"

"Sure," said TK, still staring at Keroberos. "Digi-Armor Energize!"

"Patamon armor Digivolve to…PEGASUSMON, FLYING HOPE!" 

"How's this for a pig?" laughed the armor digimon. Sakura stared at Patamon's new form, while Yugi looked as if he was about to faint. Keroberos mumbled something under his breath about a copycat.

"Well, it seems I'll be riding Pegasusmon, while you two ride Kero," said TK after getting over his shock.

"Nope, Yugi's riding Keroberos," smiled Sakura, pulling out her Clow Cards, and making a staff grow out of a necklace hanging around her neck. "I've got my own ride. FLY CARD, RELEASE!" Her staff grew wings out of nowhere. Yugi really was about to faint, so he let Yami take over, and TK stared in shock.

"I guess you really have to see these things for yourself," shrugged Sakura, getting on. "Let's get to Domino City!" Both coming out of shock, TK climbed onto Pegasusmon, and Yami got on Keroberos. Within minutes, the three took to the skies, towards their destiny…

************************

End Chapter! There, that took less than a month. Not too bad, but still a bit rushed because of everything being added to my schedule. Gomen nasai. I hope this enhances your thirst for this story to continue, or at the very least, makes you want to review the chapter. **Review!**


	8. Arrival: The Games Begin!

I'm sorry I this took so long to get onto the network. I had it done a couple of weeks ago, but then a virus zapped my Internet. Now that I've gotten it back, I can post it!

Before this Chapter begins, I'd like to thank all of my reviewers for their kind support. And I would like to respond to a few of those reviews. If your review wasn't mentioned, it's because I don't like you. _Just kidding_. I'm happy to receive reviews from everyone. I just picked a few from the list.

~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~

**Spiegel1979** – Merci beaucoup, Monsieur Doyon. (I looked at your account and found all your fanfics were in French.) As much as I would love to hear your idea, I already have one cooked up for this entire story. I appreciate the offer, though!

**Blackout12** – 10/10 on all chapters, eh? I'm glad that you love this crossover so much.

**TrueMallowMan** – Thanks for your review, but just one thing. What I wrote wasn't an error. Think about it: Either Monster could've taken out Sakura's Life Points. If Judge Man attacked, then Feral Imp would still be free to attack her life points directly. Since Man-Eater Bug can only destroy one monster, Sakura would be forced to kill the monster that hadn't attacked: Feral Imp. However, since things happened otherwise, Judge Man was killed instead. I've played Duel Monsters on the GBA before. I know these things. I'd just like to clear that up. I'm glad you tried to point out an error I made, though. And you're right, a crossover this big _could_ never happen. It's fun to write about, though.

**Falling Leaves** – You are getting way ahead of my story, pal. But you're right. _Is it the Dark Magician at all?_ I guess you'll just have to wait and find out, huh?

**Darkness Princess** – I'm blushing at your comment about this being the ultimate fanfic. Thanks a lot!

**Kat-Tastrophe** – I'm on your favorite authors list! Along with 12 others! I feel so loved!

**LightHopemayShine – **I'm on your favorite authors list, too! Hmm, haven't got reviews from you recently, but no big. Thanks for the reviews you've given!

**Nika Nakano** – Yeah, those abusive crossovers bug me too. I really wanted people to see how 3 different shows could be combined while actually following their original storyline. Thanks for your review.

**Kaoin Vin **– I appreciate your constructive criticism. Thank you for pointing out my error, but I don't really want to change my whole story, so I'm leaving it as it is. Thanks for being honest with me.

~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~

That's all. Sorry if I didn't respond to your review. It doesn't mean that I didn't appreciate them as much as these. I basically picked out of a hat. Completely random choices were what these were. Anyway, onto Chapter 7!

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King of Games 

Chapter 7 

Solomon Moto was sweeping outside his shop, thinking about his grandson, Yugi, and his three friends who had gone to Tokyo for an interview. It was late in the afternoon, around five o'clock. He wiped his brow at the setting sun before walking inside. Little did he know what appeared just over the horizon as he did this…

"There's Domino City!" exclaimed Yugi from the back of Keroberos. "Let's see. There's the Kaiba Corporation building, so my Grandpa's shop should be that way!"

"Then that's where we're turning," said Pegasusmon. TK looked at Sakura. The girl appeared to be sweating.

"Hey, Sakura. Are you okay?" he asked. Sakura smiled weakly at him.

"Fine, just fine," she told him. TK didn't believe her, but he decided to take no notice of it.

When the three landed in an alleyway, Sakura collapsed, her brow filled with sweat.

"Sakura!" yelled TK, who caught her just in time. "Keroberos, what happened?"

"Using the Fly Card for such a long period of time seems to have drained her energy," he replied.

"And you couldn't tell us this before?" yelled Pegasusmon.

"SHE JUST NEEDS A REST!" he yelled back. "BESIDES, SHE'S THE CARD'S MASTER. SHE DOES AS SHE WISHES WITH THEM, SO DON'T GO BITING MY HEAD OFF ABOUT IT!"

"Stop it, you two!" TK commanded. "Yugi, help me carry Sakura to your place."

"I'm right with you, TK," Yugi told him, taking one of Sakura's arms and slinging it over his shoulders. TK did the same with her other arm. Pegasusmon reverted back to Patamon, and Keroberos turned back into the small flying teddy bear.

************************

"Ugh…" muttered Sakura, opening her eyes slowly. She then realized she wasn't outside. She was lying on a bed. Her vision was still blurry, and her head was spinning. "This is what I get for offering their rides," she grumbled to herself. "Where are they, anyway?" When her vision became clear, she saw posters of Duel Monsters and Tournaments plastered upon the walls. 'This must be Yugi's room,' she thought to herself. She got out of the bed and walked out of the room, trying to see if she could find TK or Yugi.

As she got downstairs, she saw TK talking with an older gentleman. He was hardly taller than Yugi, but he appeared wise, nonetheless.

"I must say, Takeru, you've assembled quite an impressive deck," Solomon Moto complimented the blonde. "Quite a few good cards in here. I see that your deck has many Equip Magic Cards in it."

"Yes, Mr. Moto, it does," TK replied. "My personal favorite is Megamorph."

"Ah, a rare find," Solomon nodded. "I have a few cards that you may want. You can trade in some of yours for them, if you wish."

"Gladly!" TK exclaimed. Yugi, who was sitting next to them, turned to see Sakura at the door.

"So, you're finally awake," he smiled.

"My head still hurts," she muttered. "How long was I asleep?"

"Must have been a good four hours now," shrugged TK. "Kero and Patamon are in the attic. They're going to stay there until they can tone their bickering down."

"Hey, get out your deck!" proclaimed Yugi. "We can improve on it!"

"I'm still tired," she replied. "Sorry."

"It's no problem," smiled Solomon. "Get some more rest. We'll see what we can do for you tomorrow."

"Thanks," she told him before leaving. TK got up and went with Solomon to get some cards.

Later…

"Hey, TK, let's see what cards new you've gotten!" Yugi exclaimed. TK held out several cards for Yugi to see.

"Maha Vailo, Elf's Light, Malevolent Nuzzler, Just Desserts, Waboku…" Yugi shuffled through the cards. "These are all really good, TK. You're going to get really far with these new cards."

"Oh Yugi! I almost forgot! While you were gone, Kaiba Land is holding a small Duel Monsters Tournament to warm up for the upcoming Battle City Competition. I was going to compete, but since you've brought your new friends along, I think they should be the ones to participate."

"What?" gasped TK. "Me and Sakura? In an actual competition?"

"That's a great idea!" exclaimed Yugi. "What time does it start?"

"Tomorrow at one-thirty."

"That gives us little time to prepare," sighed TK. "And I'm too tired to start right now."

"That's okay," smiled Solomon. "Yugi will fill you in on the basics tomorrow morning. You can sleep on the futon, if you'd like."

"Thanks," TK replied before leaving.

"They've got spirit within him," Solomon told Yugi after TK fell asleep. "I can see it in their eyes. They're going to become great duelists."

"TK's friend is in need, and Sakura has a duty to fulfill," said Yugi. "Both of them have too much to lose. I will show him the secret of the game tomorrow."

***************************

"She's been kidnapped, eh? I see. Thanks for telling me, Ken. Bye," Tai Kamiya sighed and hung up the phone.

"What was that about?" asked his college roommate, Joe Kido. "You took up so much time that I never got a chance to call Mimi."

"Kari's been kidnapped by a mysterious man," Tai told him. "I don't know about this, but Davis describes him as a Dark Magician, like on those Duel Monster cards that he and TK play with."

"That's ridiculous," snorted Joe. "But, you've talked to your parents, right?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "No one knows where she is. And Izzy tells me that the Digi-Ports became locked right after everyone else got back. We can't get in, and Kari can't get out."

"Has Gennai been able to do anything?"

"No," Tai replied. "He emailed Ken some time ago, saying that there's some weird Dark Castle where Giga House used to be, but it's guarded by thousands of monsters."

"Digimon?"

"Yes, but get this! Gennai also mentioned that there have been reports of insane, maniacal laughter erupting from that Castle. And that laughter is one that he and all of the Digimon recognize all too well…"

"Maniacal Laughter?" Joe thought aloud. "No way! You can't mean…"

"Yes," Tai's hands balled into fists. "He's back…"

****************************

"No way! I lost?!" gasped TK, whose Celtic Guardian was just defeated by Yugi's Gamma the Magnet Warrior. It was the start of the afternoon after the three friends had arrived at Domino City, and Yugi was training the two before the Tournament that day.

"It's okay, TK. Everyone loses sometimes," Solomon assured him.

"But I can't afford to lose," he told him.

"Don't worry about it, TK," said Sakura. "I lost, too, you know?"

"And both of you did exceptional," smiled Solomon. "I can see that you've put your whole heart into the game. Good job."

"Now, before we go to the tournament, I need to speak with the two of you," Yugi told them. "The game of Duel Monsters has a secret that cannot be found in any manual."

"Secret?" TK and Sakura asked at the same time.

"I think it'll be best to have my 'other' tell you about this," Yugi told them. His Millenium Puzzle began to glow right then.

"YU-GI-OH!!!" When Yugi opened his eyes again, TK and Sakura met the one they had talked to that night when they were trading secrets: Yami.

"Your dueling skills have improved greatly in just a couple of hours," Yami told them. "I was quite impressed."

"We've received compliments about our skills before now," Sakura told him. "Please tell us the secret to this game."

"Very well," Yami smiled. "The game of Duel Monsters was originally an ancient Egyptian Shadow Game, recreated by Maximilian Pegasus. The games nearly erupted into a battle that would destroy the world, until one brave pharaoh locked it away for five millennia. Then, only a few years ago, Pegasus recreated the Shadow Games into a Card Game, Duel Monsters."

"Amazing," TK whispered to himself.

"In the Egyptian Games, the monsters were living creatures, and they did have hearts," Yami continued. "And, as much as it is difficult to believe, Duel Monsters holds the same power: A Heart of the Cards."

"Heart of the Cards?" asked Sakura. "Is it possible?"

"Very," answered Yami. "If you put your heart in the game, such as if you could not afford to lose, then your deck will always help pull you through. Trust your cards, and always keep your spirits up. That is what won at Duelist Kingdom, and it will be what wins against the Game Card."

"A heart of the cards," whispered Sakura, holding up her deck. "If it is true that there is one, then…"

"It's the ace in the hole that we need to win!" smiled TK. "And with the new modifications to our decks, we can't lose!"

"You will if you're late getting to the tournament," proclaimed Solomon. "Let's get going!"

**************************

"Well, you're all registered and ready to go," Yugi told TK and Sakura. "Let's see who you're up against." A large screen with a chart showed the placement of duelists in the competition.

"Hmm, 8 people entered, so there will be 2 rounds in all excluding the final match," said Solomon. "We were lucky to get here on time."

"Hey, TK, looks like you're up first!" Yugi pointed to his picture on the screen. The chart showed he was dueling against a blue haired kid with yellow-rimmed glasses. "You're against Weevil Underwood!"

"That's right, Yugi," a voice snickered behind him. He turned to find Weevil laughing. "I'm disappointed that you didn't enter this competition. I was so looking forward to wiping the floor with you for what you did to me back at Duelist Kingdom! Oh, and here is my opponent, Takeru Takaishi. I hope you've brought bug repellant because my swarm of insects will destroy you!"

"We'll see, Weevil," smiled TK. "We will definitely see." Right then a voice on the loudspeaker sounded.

*Will Takeru Takaishi and Weevil Underwood please step into the arena. Your match will begin in five minutes*

"Enjoy your stay in the tournament, Takaishi, because it will be a short one," laughed Weevil as he exited the lobby.

"Friendly guy, isn't he?" muttered Sakura. "Didn't even bother to shake hands with his opponent."

"Weevil's got ego problems," Yugi told her. "Good luck, TK. May the Heart of the Cards guide you to victory."

"That sounded so corny," laughed TK. "But thanks. I'll do my best."

Weevil ascended to the red side, while TK went to the blue. "I hope you're ready to lose, Takaishi! I've got a new card that will tear you to pieces!"

"Get even cockier and you'd be crowing," said TK. "Quit yapping and start the game."

"Fine, then, Takaishi! It's time to duel!"

Weevil: 4000 TK: 4000 

And so it began…

**********************************

End Chapter! Boy, I love leaving these evil cliffhangers for you to grumble over. I am such an evil writer, aren't I? Review!


	9. The Insect Master's Trap

King of Games

Chapter 8

Matt Ishida walked toward his mother's house with his girlfriend, Sora Takenouchi. He couldn't believe that his younger brother just took off to another city like that, while leaving three guests behind in his house. He ran a hand through his blond hair. In truth, he was nervous. He hadn't seen his mother in ages. The last time they were together was when Myotismon had attacked Tokyo, seven years ago.

"Matt, we're here," Sora told him. He snapped out of his trance.

"Yeah," he replied in a whisper. He slowly reached up and rang the doorbell to the Takaishi's apartment. "Coming," a muffled voice called from inside.

When the door opened, Nancy Takaishi saw the face of her other son, Yamato. "Matt, you're here! And Sora too!"

"Hi Ms. Takaishi," the auburn haired girl smiled.

"Hey mom," Matt greeted. "Where are those guests?" Suddenly he heard Davis's voice erupt from the living room.

"YOU SONNUVA…GET BACK HERE, WHEELER! THAT'S _MY_ COOKIE!"

"HEHE, MINE NOW!" He heard Davis and the other guy running around the house.

Matt sweatdropped. "Never mind."

*************************************

Weevil: 4000 TK: 4000__

"I'll begin the match," snickered Weevil, "by playing a monster in face-down defense mode and ending my turn."

'That's not what I expected,' thought TK. 'I know Weevil's strategies with his insect cards, but this is unusual.' He drew his card. 'No matter what, though, I have to lower his defenses as much as possible. This card should do well.'

"I'll summon Neo the Magic Swordsman in Attack Mode!" yelled TK. The blonde sword wielding spellcaster appeared on the field. "Attack the defense monster!"

Weevil smirked. "Alright, activate, my Parasite Paracide!"

Parasite Paracide – ATK: 500/DEF: 300 

A strange insect with tentacles appeared on the field, right before Neo destroyed it. Some tentacles suddenly shot towards TK.

"What's going on?" asked TK.

"My Paracide is infecting your deck, Takaishi," snickered Weevil. "The card is somewhere in that deck, and when you draw it, it will deal you 1000 damage to your life points!" TK stared in shock. "My move, Takaishi!" Weevil drew his card.

"I'll play Graceful Charity, to draw three cards," he said, drawing three, "and discarding two. I will then proceed to playing another defense monster and declaring it your turn!"

'I've already made one mistake by attacking,' thought TK. 'Weevil's Paracide is in my deck, and I have to find a way to win before I draw it. But how?'

He drew his card. "I play a monster in defense mode as well. And I'll play one card face down on the field to end my turn."

Weevil drew his next card. "I'll play Gokibore, in attack mode!"

Gokibore – ATK: 1200/DEF: 1400 

"And I'll play the field Magic Card, Forest!" Right before their eyes, the Dueling arena began to grow grass and trees.

"Forest? What's that do?" asked TK.

"It's very simple. It will increase the Attack and Defense of all Insect monsters by 200 points!" laughed Weevil.

"Oh no," whispered TK.

"I will now proceed to flip the monster I had face down," laughed Weevil. "Man-Eater Bug!"

Man-Eater Bug – ATK: 450/DEF: 600 

"I will destroy the monster you had on the field with its ability," laughed Weevil. "And I'll attack you with my insects! With their new field power bonus, I can inflict even more direct damage to your life points!"

Weevil: 4000 

**TK: 1950**

"No, he's already gotten my life points down that much!" muttered TK. "I need to make a comeback, and fast."

***************************

"Things aren't looking good for TK," said Sakura, watching the video screen. "Weevil's now got the advantage. Who knows what can happen now?"

"If there's one thing that I have learned from Duelist Kingdom, Sakura, it's that the game isn't over until it's over," Yugi assured her. "TK's got cards in his deck that can easily turn this game around."

"Yugi," a voice came from behind them. "I see you have come, exactly as I predicted you would." Sakura and Yugi turned to see an Egyptian woman in a white dress, a golden necklace a charm on it like the eye on Yugi's puzzle, and stunning blue eyes. Yugi then turned into Yami using his Millenium Puzzle.

"Ishizu," Yami whispered. "What are you doing here?"

"How are you doing, Sakura Avalon?" the woman asked.

"How do you know my name?" asked Sakura.

"I have my ways of knowing these things, Sakura," she smiled. "Keep your cards close to you. You'll need them."

'Cards?' wondered Sakura. 'She must mean my dueling deck. There's no way she can know of…'

"I didn't mean your deck, Miss Avalon," Ishizu said without looking at her. "I meant your other cards."

"How did you…never mind," the girl sighed.

"Turn your attention back to your friend, TK," Ishizu demanded. "I must speak with Yugi about something dreadfully important."

"Alright," Sakura told her. Yami and Ishizu left to talk, but Sakura didn't follow. Although she was curious about Ishizu, she decided it would be in her best interest not to know what was going on. After all, she, Yugi and TK, had already shared enough secrets for anyone's benefit.

"What did you wish to speak to me about?" asked Yami, once he and Ishizu were in a secluded alleyway where no one would listen.

"It's about the near future," Ishizu told him. "You and your new friends will be caught in a battle that will truly test your abilities as pharaoh. If you do not pass this test, then I must search elsewhere for someone to combat the new evil coming to the Battle City Tournament."

"TK and Sakura? Battle?" asked Yami. "I am sorry, but I don't understand."

"You will when the time comes," Ishizu told him. "Also know that if you do not lead them to victory, the fate of our world, and another, will be taken by the forces of darkness."

"I will heed your warning, Ishizu," Yami told her before leaving. "Thank you."

***************************

"It's my move," said TK, drawing his card. "I play my Swords of Revealing Light to prevent your attacking me for three turns!"

"No skin off of my nose," Weevil smiled. "Go on."

"And now I'll play Mystical Elf in Defense mode!"

Mystical Elf – ATK: 800/DEF: 2000__

****

"Your move, Weevil," TK told him.

"Ah, a very good card for this game," laughed Weevil after drawing his card. "I'll counter your Swords of Revealing Light, with _my_ Swords of Revealing Light!"

"So we're both prevented from attacking for three turns, big deal," said TK. "I can still beat you!"

"I'd like to see you try, Takaishi," laughed Weevil. "Very well. I'll finish my turn by summoning Flying Kamakiri #2 in attack mode!."

Flying Kamakiri #2 – ATK: 1700/DEF: 1000 _(A/N: This is its attack strength with the Field Card, if you're wondering why it's higher than what it should be.)_

"My move," said TK, drawing his card. "I'll summon Dunames Dark Witch In Attack Mode."

Dunames Dark Witch – ATK: 1800/DEF: 1050 

(A/N: There's an angel card with a high attack! Thanks to AngeNightShadow and Jay Man for the suggestion!)

"And I'll finish by laying a card face down on the field. Your move, Weevil."

'He doesn't know who he's dealing with,' thought Weevil. 'Once that Paracide comes out of his deck, I'll have one of the strongest monsters in the game to help me win.'

Weevil drew his next card. "I summon Flying Kamakiri #1, in Attack Mode!"

Flying Kamakiri #1 – ATK: 1600/ DEF: 1100 

"And I'll end my turn."

TK drew another card. "I'll pass this turn. There's nothing I can do."

"A wise decision, Takeru," chuckled Weevil. He drew. "I think I'll pass as well."

"I'll play Maha Vailo in attack mode!"

Maha Vailo – ATK: 1550/DEF: 1400 

"And I'll lay a card face down to end my turn."

Weevil drew his next card. "Well, what do we have here? Heehee. I'll save this for later. Your move, Takaishi, and your Swords of Revealing Light deactivate now."

'What is he up to?' wondered TK as he drew his next card. He eyes widened. "NO! I drew the Paracide!"

'You are a far too honest person,' Weevil thought, smirking. "You must play it! It is the rules!"

TK sighed and special summoned it to the field. "Now you take 1000 direct damage to your Life Points! Hahaha!"

Weevil: 4000 TK: 950 

"Oh this is sweet," snickered Weevil.

"I'll also play Celtic Guardian in Attack Mode."

**Celtic Guardian** – **ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200**

"And my turn ends with a face-down card. Your Swords of Revealing Light are deactivated."

"It will be my pleasure to finish this duel," laughed Weevil, drawing his next card. "Monster Reborn!"

"Monster Reborn? What are you going to revive?" asked TK.

"I'm bringing forth my rarest Insect!" he laughed. "INSECT QUEEN!" In the final space of the field, a giant spider emerged.

Insect Queen – ATK: 2200/DEF: 2000 

"When was there an Insect Queen in your Graveyard?" demanded TK.

"When I discarded it by playing Graceful Charity on my second turn, remember?" laughed Weevil. "Adding to the Forest Power-up, Insect Queen's Attack Strength increases with every insect monster on the field. The Parasite on your side of the field turns all of your monsters into Insects, so they add to her great power!"

Insect Queen – ATK: 4200/DEF: 2000 

"Do the math, Takaishi," Weevil laughed. "If my Queen destroys any one of your attack monsters, you're sunk! I told you your stay would be a short one! Say goodbye to the rest of your Life Points! I have to feed her one of my monsters to have her attack, so I'll sacrifice Man-Eater Bug and attack your Celtic Guardian!"

TK acted quickly. "I'll counter with the trap card Gift of the Mystical Elf! It raises my life points by 300 for every monster on the field! Now that Man-Eater Bug's gone, there are nine," smiled TK. "Do the math, Underwood. That's 2700 Life, more than enough to keep me alive!"

"Darn you! You just won't quit!" yelled Weevil. "Insect Queen still destroys Celtic Guardian, so you're not much better than you were before!"

Weevil: 4000 TK: 1050 

"Well, my Insect Queen keeps her power by laying an egg. Your move."

'That trap can only stall me for so long,' thought TK. 'Next turn, if Weevil destroys any of my Attack monsters, it'll take down the rest of my life points. If I switch to Defense, his other Monsters can destroy mine. This next card will have to be a good one, or I'm going to be crushed by that Insect Queen.' TK drew his next card, and smiled. 'That'll do.'

"I'll lay one card face-down on the field. Next, I'll play Malevolent Nuzzler on Maha Vailo, increasing his attack by 1200!

Maha Vailo – ATK: 2950/DEF: 1600 

"And I'll attack your Queen's egg with Dunames Dark Witch! Thanks to your Paracide and your Forest, her power is boosted!"

Dunames Dark Witch – ATK: 2000/DEF: 1250 

"Dark Witch, attack!" commanded TK. The Dark Witch fired a blast of energy at the egg and destroyed it.

Weevil: 2300 

**TK: 1050**

"Now, I'll attack Flying Kamakiri #2 with Maha Vailo!"

Weevil: 1250 

**TK: 1050**

"I'll finish by summoning Shining Fairy in Attack Mode!" An angel-like fairy appeared on the last spot on the field.

Shining Fairy – ATK: 1600/DEF: 1000 

"Your move, Weevil," said TK.

"You idiot! You forgot to switch your monsters into defense mode," he laughed. "Now prepare to meet your doom!" He drew a card. "I summon Cockroach Knight in attack mode!"

Cockroach Knight – ATK: 1000/DEF: 1100 

"My Insect Queen's attack power is now 3800! I'll feed my Cockroach Knight to Insect Queen so she can attack your Shining Fairy!"

"Just as I thought," laughed TK. "By attacking, you've activated my trap card! I hope your Queen had a nice main course, because she's getting Just Desserts!This trap card deals 500 points of direct damage to you for every monster on your side of the field. Insect Queen, Flying Kamakiri, and Gokibore, that's 1500 damage, bringing your Life Points down to 0!"

"NO!" cried Weevil. "How could I lose, even with my most powerful monster on the field?"

Weevil: 0 TK: 1050 

***************************

Some people in the crowd started whispering to each other.

"Did you see that?"

"That Takaishi kid is really good! He beat the regional champion!"

"No joke. What a comeback! Weevil got out the strongest monster I've ever seen and Takaishi still won!"

"Well, anyway, what a grand duel! I mean, I haven't seen one that exciting since…ever!"

"No doubt! Go TK!"

The crowd erupted into cheers. Sakura and Yugi smiled.

"I knew he could do it," said Sakura.

"And he did," Yugi finished, watching TK smile and hold a peace sign toward the camera.

****************************

In a dark corridor of another world, two mysterious figures stood talking.

"Without the Child of Light, the Digital World's defenses are weakening."

"Yes, but that blasted human, Owikawa, sacrificed himself to preserve it. It's not enough. We need the Child of Hope as well."

"Of course. I want revenge on that dear sweet child for destroying me all those years ago. And with the magic of Game, we can't lose!" the figure laughed. The laughter echoed through the corridors of the castle, and through a jail cell, where a brown-haired girl sat with her head tucked between her knees.

"Please come for me," she whispered, before falling asleep.

****************************

End Chapter! Boy, that was fun to write! It was the most exciting duel I've written about so far. Review!


	10. The Clow Deck

As a note before this next chapter begins, I'm adding a few original duelists of my own to this story. So, to avoid any confusion, I'm showing you who they are:

**Rick Dagger:             **You've already seen this guy be beaten to death by Davis. He plays with a warrior-type deck.

**Jeremy Virus:            ** His deck is kind of a surprise, but I'm sure many of you can guess what type of deck he's playing.

**Pyra Vulcan:               **A very pretty redheaded girl who duels using Fire attribute monsters.

Also as a side note, I changed the number of people in the tournament from 32 to 8. There is no way I could come up with enough decks to fulfill the goal of 5 rounds. (Yes, I do come up with decks, not random cards.) I'm sorry to those people who were expecting more.

****************************************************

King of Games Chapter 9 

"You really thought your fire-based deck could defeat the almighty power of the sea?" laughed Mako Tsunami as his Fortress Whale annihilated Flame Swordsman. "You were dead wrong. Say good-bye to your life points!"

Pyra: 600 

**Mako: 1500**

"Your move, Vulcan," laughed Mako. "There's no way you can win! My fortress whale will destroy your monsters, and with my field card Umi, all of your Pyro type monsters have a decreased attack! Face it, Pyra, you cannot stand against the power of the sea!"

The beautiful green-eyed teenager stared at the field confidently. "Laugh it all out, mister Tsunami. It is your last." She drew her card. "I'll play Polymerization to fuse Faith Bird and Skull Red Bird to form Crimson Sunbird!

Crimson Sunbird – ATK: 2300/DEF: 1800 

"Since it isn't a Pyro type monster, it keeps its attack points," said Pyra.

"Go on?" asked Mako.

"I'll also play Monster Reborn to revive Flame Swordsman!"

Flame Swordsman – ATK: 1800/DEF: 1600 

"That pathetic excuse for a monster was no match for my Fortress Whale the last time!" laughed Mako. "No way can your monster beat the strength of my Monster!"

"Oh, but I'm not done," smirked Pyra. "I'll equip Crimson Sunbird with Salamandra, raising its attack points by 700!"

"Oh no!" cried Mako. "That makes it stronger than my Fortress Whale!"

"Crimson Sunbird, attack!" commanded Pyra. The bird blew the dragon of flames, Salamandra, straight at the Fortress Whale, destroying it. "And to finish your life points, Tsunami, Flame Swordsman, ATTACK!"

Pyra: 750 Mako: 0 

"NO!! How could fire beat water? It's not possible!"

****************************************************

"Man, what a duel," said TK.

"No kidding," Yugi told him. "That Vulcan girl sure knows how to wipe out any monster."

"I guess I'm up next," gulped Sakura. "Who am I against?"

"Me," a voice came from behind her. She turned to face an eight-year-old American girl with blond hair. Yugi recognized her instantly.

"Rebecca Hopkins?" he asked. "You came back to Japan?"

"Yep," she smiled. "I want to enter the Battle City Tournament. All the best duelists will be there, and my grandpa wants me to go to make up for accusing your family. Sorry."

"It's no problem," smiled Yugi. "Anyway, I'm not in this little tournament, but my two friends are. TK, Sakura, meet Rebecca Hopkins, the eight-year-old dueling prodigy."

"It's nice to meet you, Rebecca," Sakura told her.

"Save the talk for the Duel," Rebecca huffed. "You will see how dueling is really done!" With that, she walked off.

"Friendly girl, isn't she?" TK asked sarcastically.

"She's just young," sighed Yugi. "She still hasn't learned many manners from her grandfather. Don't let her age catch you off guard, Sakura. She is a powerful duelist."

"I'll just see how powerful she is," said Sakura. "She's going to face my proudly made Clow Deck. All of my cards represent one of the 52 already discovered Clow Cards."

"That's a creative way to put together a deck," commented TK. "But how well does it work?"

"Well, this is supposed to be a test run, so we'll just have to see," shrugged Sakura.

*Will Sakura Avalon and Rebecca Hopkins please step into the arena. Your match will begin in five minutes.*

"Wish me luck, you two," Sakura called as she left the lobby.

"Good luck!" TK and Yugi shouted.

"A Clow Deck," laughed Yugi. "It's a very unorthodox way to put together a dueling deck, but I guess as long as the cards flow together, it's okay."

*****************************

Meanwhile, back in Odaiba, Matt Ishida was grumbling as he drove his brother's guests around town. Why was he grumbling? The people were nice enough, but _Davis_ had to come along, and with him came…

"Oh MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATT? This kid, Joey took my cookie. Can you tell him to give it back to me?"

"No, Jun, let the dumb blonde eat his heart out," he muttered to her.

"There, see? An understanding…wait, WHO YOU CALLIN' DUMB BLONDE?!"

"Ha ha, dumb blonde!" Davis laughed.

"You shouldn't be talking, goggle-boy. I would beat you up, but your skull is probably so thick that I'd crack my hand punching it!"

"Hey, are you saying I'm stupid?"

"Oh gee, Sherlock, when did you figure that out?"

The two began fighting like this through the entire ride. Jun was constantly flirting with Matt, and as for Li and Madison…

"I can't hold the stupid camera straight," complained Madison. "What is with that Davis guy?"

"Okay, that's it! I'm stopping," shouted Matt. "I can't take this anymore! Davis, who invited you and Jun anyway? That Yugi kid isn't even here!"

"Well, how was I supposed to know that Yugi Moto took TC to Domino City?" he retorted. "And Jun said that she really wanted to meet him too."

Matt smacked himself on the forehead. "Davis you…never mind. If I take you guys to lunch, will you shut up?"

"Sweet! Food!" shouted Joey. "I get first dibs!"

"No way, Wheeler!" Davis yelled.

'What did I do to get myself into this,' Matt thought to himself. Li was looking around the area when his eyes stopped at a Chinese girl taking pictures.

"Wait a second," he whispered to himself. "Meilin?"

*****************************

"It's time to Duel!" Rebecca and Sakura shouted at the same time.

Sakura: 4000 Rebecca: 4000 

"I'll go first," said Rebecca. "By playing Witch of the Black Forest in Attack Mode!"

Witch of the Black Forest – ATK: 1100/DEF: 1200 

"Your move, Sakura," Rebecca told her. Sakura drew her card.

"I'll play one card face down, and 7 Colored Fish in Attack mode!"

7 Colored Fish – ATK: 1800/DEF: 800 

"7 Colored Fish, Attack her Witch!" Sakura commanded.

Sakura: 4000 Rebecca: 3300 

"Witch of the Black Forest's ability allows me to search of another monster," giggled Rebecca. "Isn't that right, teddy? Yes that's right. Teddy, you're so smart, yes you are!"

'This girl is the famous child prodigy?' wondered Sakura. 'She doesn't seem like much of a duelist. She must be toying with me. Yugi told me to watch out for her.'

"Ah, here it is," laughed Rebecca. "Okay, my turn! I draw, and I play Swords of Revealing Light! Stopping your attacks for three whole turns! And now I'll play Jinzo #7 in Attack Mode!" A mechanical cyborg appeared on the field.

Jinzo #7 – ATK: 500/DEF: 400 

"Why such a weak monster?" asked Sakura.

"You have absolutely no clue, huh?" laughed Rebecca. "Jinzo #7 has a special ability: Direct Attacks!"

"What?" gasped Sakura.

"That's right, my Jinzo can attack your life points directly! And What's more, I'll equip him with Axe of Despair, to power up his Attack by 1000 points! Now, Jinzo, attack her life points!"

Sakura: 2500 Rebecca: 3300 

'This isn't good,' thought Sakura. 'With those Swords of Revealing Light, I can't attack, while she destroys my life points. Three turns is all she needs!'

"Your move Sakura," laughed Rebecca. "Of course, you know you can't win. My Jinzo will take you down easily!" Sakura drew her next card.

"I'll play Silver Fang in Attack Mode, and end my turn," The grey wolf appeared on Sakura's side of the field.

Silver Fang – ATK: 1200/DEF: 800 

"What do you think she's up to teddy? You think? Oh well. I'll draw my card, and I'll lay one monster face down in defense mode. Now, I'll Attack you again with Jinzo #7!"

Sakura: 1000 Rebecca: 3300 

'One more attack from that thing and I'm sunk,' Sakura thought grimly as she drew her card. "This will work. I'll play one card face down on the field. Then, I'll play Dian Keto the Cure Master to raise my Life Points by 1000!"

Sakura: 2000 Rebecca: 3300 

"Now, I'll play one monster face down on the field to end my turn!"

"Shoot," muttered Rebecca. She drew her next card. "I'll play one more monster face down, and I'll attack you again with Jinzo!"

"Go trap card!" commanded Sakura. "Mirror Force!"

"Oh no!" cried Rebecca. "That destroys my Jinzo!"

"No more direct attacks from you, little girl," smiled Sakura. "Are you done?"

"Yes," she muttered. Sakura drew her next card.

"I'll play a monster face down in defense position," said Sakura. "And that will end my turn. Now, your Swords of Revealing Light have been deactivated."

"Big deal," huffed Rebecca. "I'll still beat you!" She drew her next card. "Goody! Cannon Soldier in Attack Mode!" A tank-like machine appeared on the field.

Cannon Soldier – ATK: 1400/DEF: 1300 

"By sacrificing one of my monsters, Cannon Soldier can deal you 500 points of direct damage! So, I'll sacrifice my two defense monsters to deal 1000 damage to your life points!" The two monsters on the field were destroyed and Cannon Soldier fired two blasts at Sakura's Life points.

Sakura: 1000 Rebecca: 3300 

"And I'll end my turn by playing a face down card! Your move, Sakura!"

'This is not good,' thought Sakura. 'That face down card could be a trap. One attack can easily wipe out my life points!' She drew her next card and smiled.

"I'll play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your face down card!"

"NO! My Mirror Force!" cried Rebecca.

"I'll then play Aqua Madoor in Attack Mode!" A blue haired spellcaster appeared next to Silver Fang.

Aqua Madoor – ATK: 1200/ DEF: 2000 

"I will now attack your Cannon Soldier with 7 Colored Fish!"

The rainbow fish tackled the Cannon Soldier and destroyed it.

Sakura: 1000 

**Rebecca: 2900**

"Now that you have no monsters left on the field, I'll attack your life points with Silver Fang and Aqua Madoor!"

Sakura: 1000 Rebecca: 500 

"God Damn!" she cursed in English.

"Your move, Rebecca," Sakura told her. "Go."

Rebecca stuck her tongue out at the cad captor and drew her next card. "I'll play Graceful Charity to draw three cards and discard two." She did, and started leaping for joy. "Yes! Yes! Yes! I got it! I got it!"

'Got what?' wondered Sakura.

"Now, I'll play Change of Heart on your 7 Colored Fish!" she laughed. 7 Colored Fish moved to her side. "Now, I'll use it as a tribute for my Shadow Ghoul! It increased its attack by 100 for every card in my graveyard! There's Jinzo, my two defense monsters, Cannon Soldier, Axe of Despair, Mirror Force, Change of Heart, Graceful Charity and the two cards I discarded using it! That's 1000 extra points!"

Shadow Ghoul – ATK: 2600/DEF: 1300 

'Oh no!' thought Sakura.

"One attack will wipe out the rest of your Life Points! Attack Silver Fang, Shadow Ghoul!" Shadow Ghoul began moving in on its prey.

*****************************

"Looks like it's the end for Sakura," TK told Yugi. "It was a good duel."

"No, TK," Yugi told him. "This duel isn't over until it's over. Sakura can win! She just needs to find out how." TK turned back to the advancing Shadow Ghoul, wondering how Sakura's Clow Deck would pull her out of this one.

*****************************

"Negate Attack!" shouted Sakura. "Your attack activated my trap, Negate Attack! It stops all monster attacks made this turn!"

"Fine!" muttered Rebecca. "Your move!"

Sakura drew her next card, and smiled. 'This works exactly like the Sleep Card.' "I'll sacrifice Silver Fang in order to summon Invitation to a Dark Sleep, in Attack mode!"

Invitation to A Dark Sleep – ATK: 1500/DEF: 1800 

"So?" huffed Rebecca. "It's still way weaker than my Shadow Ghoul!"

"On the contrary, it's what stops your Shadow Ghoul from being a threat," said Sakura. "You see, when I summoned my Dark Sleep monster, I choose a monster on the field. As long as I have Dark Sleep on the field, that one monster can't attack. And the monster I choose is Shadow Ghoul!"

"Oh no!" gasped Rebecca. "That means my Shadow Ghoul is now dozing off!" Sure enough, the green monstrosity was indeed falling asleep.

"I'll finish my turn with two facedown cards," Sakura told her. "Make your move, Rebecca."

She growled and drew her next card. "I'll play another Graceful Charity, drawing three cards and discarding two. That increases my Shadow Ghoul's attack by another 300 points!"

Shadow Ghoul – ATK: 2900/DEF: 1300 

"And now I'm summoning La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp in Attack Mode!"

La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp – ATK: 1800/DEF: 1000 

"And I'll increase his Attack by 1000 by equipping him with another Axe of Despair! Go, my Genie! Attack her Invitation to A Dark Sleep!" commanded Rebecca.

"Activate trap, Spellbinding Circle!" commanded Sakura. "This stops your Genie's attack and locks him in place so you can't change his Battle Position!"

"God Damn!" she cursed again. "It's your move now."

Sakura Drew her next Card. "Alright! I can win this! I'll sacrifice Invitation to a Dark Sleep and Aqua Madoor to summon Buster Blader in Attack Mode!"

Buster Blader – ATK: 2600/DEF: 2300 

"Buster Blader is weaker than my Shadow Ghoul _and_ Genie," Rebecca pointed out. "How do you expect to beat me with that?"

"Oh, but there is one thing you've neglected to take into account," laughed Sakura. "Buster Blader's Attack increases by 500 for every Dragon on your side of the field and Graveyard!"

"Oh no!" cried Rebecca. "Oh…wait, I don't have any dragons in my deck! Your strategy fails, Sakura! My monsters can easily destroy you!"

"Oh yes you do have dragons in your deck," smiled Sakura. "At least when I activate my DNA Surgery! It can change all of the monsters on the field to a monster type of my choosing, and I'll choose Dragons!" As the trap activated, all of the monsters on the field began a transformation and grew wings and fangs. "And since you have two monsters on your side of the field, my Buster Blader gains 1000 Attack points!"

Buster Blader – ATK: 3600/DEF: 2300 

"Oh no!" wailed Rebecca. "You're being so mean to me!"

"This is how you've been dueling me," Sakura told her. "Buster Blader! Destroy Shadow Ghoul!" The mighty warrior sliced down the green monstrosity.

**Sakura: 1000**

Rebecca: 0 

*********************************************

"All right! She did it!" laughed TK. "Great job, Sakura!"

More cheers erupted from the crowd at the winner of the exciting duel. Yugi stared in awe. "Her deck idea actually worked," he said to himself. "Amazing."

*Round 1 of the Tournament is now complete,* a voice said over the loudspeaker. *The second round will commence in an hour. Please be ready by then.*

"Hi guys!" Sakura called to them as she ran into the lobby. "That was fun!"

"It sure was," laughed TK. "Your Clow Deck pulled through this time, huh?"

"Yes, I agree that it's well-made," commented Yugi. "Congratulations."

"Congratulate your Grandfather," laughed Sakura. "He's the one who helped me make it."

Meanwhile, Ishizu stood at the sidelines. "They show promise as warriors," she told herself. "They are indeed worthy duelists. However, my necklace predicts that they will face a struggle that may disrupt the balance between two worlds in the near future. The pharaoh will lead them into the darkness to keep the worlds in perfect harmony, but it will not be easy. I bid you well, my pharaoh. Good Luck…"

*********************************

End Chapter! I've been trying my absolute hardest to match Clow Cards with Duel Monsters Cards, so if you don't think these are good matches, deal with it. You try taking the idea of making a Clow Deck, and actually having the cards _work_ together! It's not easy!

R&R!


	11. Black Plague

King of Games Chapter 10 

TK and Sakura sat in the private restaurant that Kaiba Land had for the duelists in this competition. It was a very quaint little place. The walls were lined with posters of Duel Monsters, from Blue-Eyes White Dragons to Dark Magicians. As the two friends were going over each other's decks, Sakura brought up a topic that she had been wondering about for a while now.

"Hey TK? I was thinking, this Kari you're trying to save. What's she like?"

TK paused in the middle of his hamburger. He was getting so caught up in his dueling that the one he was dueling for had almost slipped his mind. Upon swallowing, he answered the question. "She's…a very sweet girl. She's always around when someone needs a friend to talk to, and she thinks of everyone but herself. In fact, she's a lot like you, Sakura."

"She's very dear to you, isn't she?" asked the girl.

"She's my best friend," the blonde answered quietly.

"You want it to be more, don't you?" the card captor inquired. TK remained silent. It was true; he did realize that he cared for his best friend more than he originally believed. Could it be love? Or was he just concerned about his friend? Realizing he probably didn't want to talk about it anymore, Sakura decided to drop the subject. "I wonder what Li and the others are doing right now?" she thought aloud.

"Matt should be taking them out right now," TK told her, relieved that he didn't have to think about his painful topic any longer. "I wonder how he's holding up…"

**************************** 

A fine breeze blew over the Odaiba District of Tokyo. The sun was shining and the air was clean (well, as clean as Tokyo air could be), and a certain group of children sat at a local Pizza Hut, waiting for their food.

"Why are you in Tokyo, Meilin?" asked Madison.

"Well, I kind of came because I won some contest back in Hong Kong," shrugged the Chinese girl. "Since I'm old enough, I could come alone. I had no clue that you two would be here. Especially without Sakura. Where is she?"

"Um, she's gone with a couple other friends to another city," Li told her.

"Without inviting you? That wasn't very nice," huffed Meilin. Li rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I'm starved. What's for lunch?"

"Here it comes," drooled Joey. "Oh man! I love Tokyo!"

"Hey, I called first dibs, remember?" yelled Davis. Everyone sweatdropped as the two began fighting again. After they stopped, they both saw Meilin casually eating the first roll.

"Hey, ugly! That's mine!" shouted Joey. A vein popped on Meilin's forehead.

"UGLY?! I AM NOT UGLY, YOU STUPID MONKEY!"

"_MONKEY?! WHY I OUGHTTA…_"

"Wow, I never thought I would meet a girl who would match Davis in temper," snickered Sora.

"Looks like we've found you a girlfriend, little bro," Jun giggled.

"Girlfriend? Her?" he demanded. "No way would I want to be boyfriend to that pig!"

"PIG? Come here and say that to my face, goggle-boy!"

"Aw, I think you'd make such a cute couple," snickered Joey.

"Shut up, Monkey!"

"This is going to be a long day," muttered Téa. Matt, Tristan, and Sora all nodded in agreement.

**********************************************

"I'm sure they're doing fine," said Sakura. TK sighed and finished his burger.

"I still feel kinda bad for leaving Matt with five guests on such short notice," he told her.

"Hey, it's for a good cause, right?" the card captor tried to comfort the digidestined.

"Yeah, for a good cause," the Child of Hope whispered to himself. 'Kari, I don't know why, but I just can't stop thinking about you. I really want to go back to the Digital World and take you back from that evil Dark Magician, but…if I can't even duel correctly here, how can I possibly take you back?'

"I'm sure Kari is still fine," Sakura told him. TK stared at her. "I guessed what you were thinking about," she shrugged. "Come on, we'd better get back to the tournament. You're up next, you know."

"Yeah, let's go," said TK.

***********************************************

TK soon found himself facing off against duelist Jeremy Virus. The guy looked about eighteen, had green hair, and wore a White T-Shirt with a pill in the center.

"So, Takaishi, ready to face off against a true duelist?" he snickered.

"I'm ready whenever you are," he smiled. "It's time to Duel!"

TK: 4000 

**Jeremy: 4000**

"For my first monster, I shall play Bean Soldier, in Attack Mode!" shouted Jeremy. The sword-wielding bean with legs appeared in the first slot on the field.

Bean Soldier – ATK: 1400/DEF: 1300 

"And I'll lay one card facedown on the field. Your move, Takaishi."

TK drew his card. "I'll play Neo the Magic Swordsman, in Attack Mode!" The blond sword-wielding spell appeared on the field.

Neo the Magic Swordsman – ATK: 1700/DEF: 1000 

"And I'll use my Mystical Space Typhoon magic card to destroy your facedown card! Now, Neo the Magic Swordsman, attack Bean Soldier!"

TK: 4000 Jeremy: 3700 

"Impressive, TK, I commend you on destroying my first monster," smiled Jeremy, drawing his next card. "For my next move, I'll play this monster in defense mode, and place another card face-down on the field."

'A defense monster? He must really want me to attack it to have a go at his life points. I think I'll try to find another way to destroy his monsters,' TK thought to himself while drawing his next card. 'I've seen this strategy been done to death against Davis and that Rick Dagger guy. This next card should be of help later.'

"I'll place one card facedown on the field," said TK. "And I'll play Dunames Dark Witch in Attack mode to end my turn."

Dunames Dark Witch – ATK: 1800/DEF: 1050 

"Is that all?" laughed Jeremy. "Alright then, I'll draw, and play another defense monster. Your move, Takeru."

'This guy is toying with me,' TK thought angrily. 'What's his strategy?' He drew his next card. "Gemini Elf in Attack mode!" TK shouted.

Gemini Elf – ATK: 1900/DEF: 900 

"Are you done yet?" asked Jeremy.

"Yeah, your move," TK told him.

Jeremy drew his next card, and smiled. "Ok, I'll play a Pot of Greed to draw two cards from my deck. And now I shall play Swords of Revealing Light, stopping you from attacking me for three turns!"

"Big deal," said TK. "Even with that, I can still beat you."

"Not when I play this monster, Mucus Yolk!" A black blob appeared in Jeremy's extra space.

Mucus Yolk – ATK: 0/ DEF: 100 

"What can that piece of slime do against me? It has no attack points!" TK wondered aloud.

"You see, Mucus Yolk is a very powerful card when used properly. It has the ability to attack my opponent directly. I will now play the Magic Card Rush Recklessly to increase its attack by 700 points for the rest of this turn."

Mucus Yolk – ATK: 700/DEF: 100 

"Oh wow, 700 damage," TK rolled his eyes. "So what's the danger for me?"

"You don't get it, do you?" laughed Virus. "This card has a special Ability. When it deals damage to my opponent, it will increase its attack by 1000 points for the rest of the game!"

"WHAT?!" gasped TK. "And my monsters can't attack?! That's not good!"

"Mucus Yolk! Attack his life points directly!" commanded Virus. The blob made its way past the three monsters on TK's side of the field to hit TK's life points directly.

TK: 3300 Jeremy: 3700 

"Heh, you're not as tough as that jerk Weevil made you out to be, Takaishi," laughed the green haired teen. "Your move."

'That was a brilliant strategy he played,' thought TK. 'But I'll just have to stick with mine to stall for time.' He drew his next card.

"I play Maha Vailo in Attack Mode!" TK shouted.

Maha Vailo – ATK: 1550/DEF: 1400 

"And I'll play this card face-down to end my turn," said TK.

"Giant Germ in attack mode!" shouted Jeremy.

**Giant Germ – ATK: 1000/DEF: 100**

"I'll now play Heavy Storm to destroy all Magic and Trap Cards on the Field," shouted Virus.

"Shit," TK muttered under his breath. "In response, I'll play Gift of the Mystical Elf, to increase my life points by 300 for every face-up monster on the field! There's 5, if I counted right. That's 1500 Life points for me!"

TK: 4800 Jeremy: 3700 

"So you're up a few points," laughed Jeremy. "Big deal. Now, with my powered up Yolk, I'll attack you directly!"

TK: 3800 Jeremy: 3700 

"It now has 2000 Attack points, Takaishi, more than any of your monsters," he laughed. "And your monsters are now defenseless against me! Your move!"

"Alright, I'm fine with that," smirked TK. "And thanks a lot for doing all that. It really helped me out."

"What are you talking about?!" demanded Virus.

"Something very simple. Do you realize what you've done by playing Heavy Storm? You destroyed your own Swords of Revealing Light, you numbskull!"

"What? Oh shit, you're right!"

TK drew his next card. "Now, I'll sacrifice Neo the Magic Swordsman and Maha Vailo to summon one of my most powerful monsters, Wingweaver!" A six-winged Angel appeared on the field.

Wingweaver – ATK: 2750/DEF: 2400 

"That thing is super powerful!" gasped Virus. "And my swords aren't holding it back anymore!"

"Wingweaver! Attack Mucus Yolk!" commanded TK. The mighty angel struck down the black blob with its light.

"Now, Dunames Dark Witch, destroy the first defense monster with your Spellbinding Flux!" The angel fired a beam at the Defense monster, which revealed itself to be a Fireyarou, an ugly low defense plant.

"Gemini Elf, destroy Giant Germ!" commanded TK. The twin Elf monster attacked the Giant Sphere and destroyed it.

TK: 3800 

**Jeremy: 2050**

"How do you like that? I've overcome your strategy, Virus! You can't win anymore! There isn't a monster in your deck that can stand up to mine!"

"Is that so?" laughed Jeremy. "You really believe this is over, Takaishi? Think again!" He drew his next card. "Pot of Greed! I get to draw two cards." After doing so, he smirked. "I'll play Graceful Charity to draw three cards, and discard two. Prepare for your demise, Takaishi! You won't be able to beat me now!"

"What are you talking about?" demanded TK. "My monsters can take yours on any day!"

"Or so you thought," laughed Jeremy. "I'll flip over my facedown monster, Sangan!"

Sangan – ATK: 1000/DEF: 600 

"And I'll play Giant Rat in Attack mode!"

Giant Rat – ATK: 1400/DEF: 1450 

"And I'll play two cards face-down to end my turn. Your move, Takaishi!"

'What's he thinking?' wondered TK. 'If he expects that face-down card to save him he's got another thing coming!' TK drew his next card.

"I'll play Harpie's Feather Duster to get rid of your face-down card!" TK shouted.

"You've activated my trap card, Takaishi!" laughed Virus. "Activate Magic Jammer! By discarding a card from my hand, I can negate the effects of your magic card!"

"Well, there goes one of his traps," TK said to himself. "But there's that other card as well. If it can destroy my monsters, I'm toast. I'll have to hold back from summoning for now, in case he's got a trick up his sleeve."

"Go, Gemini Elf! Attack his Sangan now!"

"You fell right in!" laughed Jeremy. "Activate trap, Crush Card!"

"Oh no!" whispered TK. "I've seen that card used once before! It destroys all of the monsters on the field, in my hand and my deck that have attack points over 1500 and sends them directly to the graveyard!"

(A/N: Okay, so this isn't loyal to the CCG, but that's how the Crush Card worked on the show, and that's how I'm going to play it in this fic.)

"That means all of your monsters go to the graveyard!" laughed Virus, who watched as his virus destroyed all of TK's monsters. "Now all you have left are worthless monsters who can't do a thing against me! And you're now vulnerable to a direct assault! Giant Rat! Attack!"

TK: 2400 Jeremy: 2050 

******************************************************

"This looks bad," said Yugi. "The Crush Card Virus is one of the most dangerous cards in the game. TK now only has his weak monsters to support him, and when he's out of those, he's finished!"

"TK can't win now," whispered Sakura. "Normally you'd count on sacrificing your weaker monsters for summoning a stronger monster, but now TK has nothing to summon!"

"I wouldn't say that it's impossible to win," Yugi told her. "It just makes it a lot harder. I think his deck has a few more tricks in it, especially since he has so much to believe in."

"Yeah," smiled Sakura. "He's got Kari."

*******************************************************

'Kar, wherever you are,' TK thought to himself. 'I'm doing this to prove to myself that I can save you. With the Digiports locked, I can only prepare for the inevitable, and that's dueling with your captor. But if I don't win, I won't have the confidence to beat the Game Card and that Dark Magician, and they'll wipe the floor with me!' TK feebly began to draw a card. 'This is it. I have to draw, for Kari!' He drew his next card.

"Make your move Takaishi! You're finished!" laughed Jeremy.

"Go Pot of Greed!" said TK. "I'll be able to draw two cards from my deck. Now, I'll set a monster in facedown defense mode. And I'll now play my Swords of Revealing Light!"

"So you're stalling," snickered Jeremy. "Delaying the inevitable. Pathetic." Virus drew his next card. "Another Graceful Charity. Now, I'll sacrifice Giant Rat to play Queen of Autumn Leaves in Attack mode." An elf with a crown of leaves appeared on the field.

Queen of Autumn Leaves – ATK: 1800/DEF: 1500 

"Since my Giant Rat was sent to the Graveyard, I get to special summon a monster from my deck with 1500 or less Attack points. And I'll summon Trent!" An old looking tree creature appeared on the field.

Trent – ATK: 1500/DEF: 1800 

"Two monsters for the price of one," laughed Jeremy. "Now, I'll play the field magic card, Gaia's Power!" The field shifted from its original state to have dirt and plants. "This magic card increases the attack of all Earth monsters by 500 points! So, my Queen of Autumn leaves _and_ my Trent's attack power are raised!"

**Queen of Autumn Leaves – ATK: 2300/DEF: 1100**

Trent – ATK: 2000/DEF: 1400 

"Since I can't attack, I'll leave it at that. Your move, Takaishi." TK growled as he drew his next card.

"Ok, this'll do. I'll set one card facedown, and a monster in defense mode to end my turn."

Virus drew. "I'll pass this turn. Your move, Takaishi."

TK drew his next card. "I'll set a monster card on the field. And I'll flip my second defense monster, Morphing Jar!"

Morphing Jar – ATK: 700/DEF: 600 

"Activating this card requires us to discard our hands and draw 5 new cards," TK told his opponent. Virus shrugged and did as he was told.

'Sweet,' thought TK. 'If this goes according to plan, I can beat his Crush Card! Now, I just need one more card and this game is over!'

"Your move, Virus," TK told him. "I'm done for this turn."

"I'll draw, and I'll play the Magic Card Vile Germs on my Queen of Autumn Leaves to raise her attack by 300."

Queen of Autumn Leaves – ATK: 2600/DEF: 1400 

"No monster will stop me from winning this duel! None!" laughed Jeremy. "Once this turn is over, your Swords of Revealing Light go to the graveyard, and my monsters are free to attack you!"

"Your monsters won't ever get their chance to attack me," smirked TK. 'I hope this is it,' he thought to himself as he drew his final card. "Yes! This is the one! Prepare yourself, Virus, because you're about to be disinfected."

"How so?" Jeremy thought curiously.

"Like this. I'll flip my two facedown monsters face up. They're both Shining Angels."

Shining Angel – ATK: 1400/DEF: 800 

"How are those supposed to help you?" asked Virus. "They're so weak!"

"Now, I'll play the Ritual Card, Novox's Prayer, sacrificing my two Shining Angels!"

"Oh no!" cried Virus. "The Crush Card didn't work on Ritual Monsters!"

(A/N: Not loyal to the CCG either, I know, but for the sake of this story let it pass.)

"That's right, Virus, and my two angel's sacrifices bring forth the mighty Skull Guardian! The twin-bladed warrior of Light!" A large armored fighter with two blades for arms appeared.

Skull Guardian – ATK: 2050/DEF: 2500 

"Wait, your monster is still weaker than my Queen of Autumn Leaves! Your strategies fail, Takaishi!"

"I'm not done," smirked TK. "My Shining Angels are similar to your Giant Rat. I can special Summon two Light Monsters with attacks of 1500 or less to the field."

"1500 or less?!" laughed Virus. "If you haven't noticed, my monsters have attack points _way_ over 1500."

"There are more ways to win than direct power," laughed TK. "Like giving power to other monsters? I special summon my two Hoshiningen to the field!"

Two small yellow star creatures appeared on the field with Skull Guardian.

Hoshiningen – ATK: 500/DEF: 700 

"They're cute, but what are _those_ gonna do to me?" asked Virus.

"This treatment too complex for you, Dr. Virus?" laughed TK. "Let me put it simply. Hoshiningen powers up the Attack of all Light monsters by 500 points!"

"Wh-What?!" gasped Jeremy. "Impossible!"

"That's right," laughed TK. "500 extra for each Hoshiningen!"

Hoshiningen – ATK: 1500/DEF: 700 

**Skull Guardian – ATK: 3050/DEF: 2500**

Hoshinengen – ATK: 1500/DEF: 700 

"And, since I special summoned all these monsters to the field, I can manually summon a monster from my hand. Say hello to Shining Friendship!" A small round fairy appeared next to the two stars.

Shining Friendship – ATK: 2300/DEF: 1100 

"Normally it's just a filler card for my deck," said TK. "But in this case it worked very well, didn't it?" Jeremy was speechless.

"Now, let the Battle begin! Shining Friendship, slice down his Trent!"

The small puffball rammed into the ancient tree, which disintegrated at its touch.

"Skull Guardian, attack Queen of Autumn Leaves!" The mighty warrior took his arms and forced two quick slices through the elf.

"Now, to finish the job," smirked TK. "Hoshinengen, attack his Life Points!"

The two small stars flew in at the doctor's side of the field, lowering his Life points to zero!

TK: 2400 Jeremy: 0 

"The doctor is out," smiled TK, picking up his cards.

********************************************************

A loud applause came from the crowds of people watching the duel.

"Wow, TK's really becoming a powerful duelist!" exclaimed Yugi. "That Shining Angel combination was sheer brilliance!"

"After all those huge monsters he had in the beginning, it took a couple of tiny stars to finish the job," laughed Sakura. "Even _with_ that Crush Card virus, he still was able to win."

Yugi nodded in agreement. 'Soon, TK, you're going to be able to rescue Kari from the clutches of the Game Card. Just you wait. If you keep going on like this, you'll be able to win in no time.'

********************************************************

The sun was beginning to set over Tokyo. Davis Motomiya was sitting on a bench in the park. Joey and Tristan were arm wrestling in a clearing, and Matt and Sora were enjoying the romantic view. Li and Madison were playing a game of Duel Monsters, and Jun and Téa were talking some girl talk.

"Man, what a day," sighed Davis. "All that yelling wasn't getting me anywhere. I still haven't gotten to meet Yugi Moto."

"Hey goggle-boy," a voice came from behind him.

"Hey Meilin," said Davis.

"What's on your mind?" she asked, sitting on the bench next to him. "Thinking about some girl?"

"No!" blushed Davis. "It's just, I've been looking forward to meeting Yugi, but TS took him away from me, almost like he took away the eyes of…" He stopped. All day, he was busy fighting and bickering about Yugi Moto, he never stopped to think about the Child of Light. He would never forgive himself if she got hurt, and he knew TK wouldn't either.

"So, there _is_ a girl," giggled Meilin. "Did she reject you or something?"

"She was…well, taken away from me. She's one of my best friends, and I've always kinda sorta had a crush on her." Meilin smiled sadly.

"I know what that's like," she sighed, looking over at the boy playing Duel Monsters. "Li and I were supposed to be betrothed if he never found a true love, but he found Sakura. And, well, I really liked him, but it turned out that I couldn't step in his way. The two of them have been together for 5 years now, and are normally inseparable."

"I'm sorry," smiled Davis, who looked out at the horizon. "The sunset's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Meilin agreed. The two teenagers watched as the light of day slowly passed into night.

*******************************************************

End Chapter! Oh boy, this was long! It was originally supposed to be split into 2 chapters, but for some reason I forgot to do that. Sorry it took a month, but creating decks isn't easy. I'm sorry that I didn't follow the CCG rules _exactly_ but it's not like it's a huge change. Also, can someone give me a place where I can find the attack names of monsters? It's getting kind of monotonous to write "*this monster* attack *whatever*".

Also, I apologize for the messed up bold lettering and stuff. FF.net is a good site, but it still has some bugs to work out.

By the way, I'd like to thank Western Master 3 for his suggestion of yugiohrealms.com's extensive card list. I'd also like to thank TrueMallowMan for pointing out my mistake about Shadow Ghoul. Damn, I hate it when that happens!

Next Chapter: The Duel between Pyra Vulcan vs. Sakura Avalon. Also, anyone wonder what's going on with Patamon and Kero? ^_^


	12. Fighting Fire with Fire

OMG, over 100 reviews! That's more than even Digisword had, and I'm barely half-way done! Cool! Thank you all for your reviews. It feels great to have so many people who like my story! ^_^

Oh, and for those of you who want a Davis/Meilin…well, keep reading.

So, at last, without further ado, let's begin Chapter 11 of 'King of Games'!

*********************************************

King of Games 

Chapter 11

The city of Domino was peaceful as the sun set over the horizon. Many people were retiring to their residences for a well-deserved rest. However, there was one such place that people weren't about to close their eyes in. Kaiba Land was still wide-awake, awaiting the duelist who would come out on top in this small tournament…

Sakura Avalon stood at the blue end of the dueling field, facing off against the dangerous, but beautiful, Pyra Vulcan. Red hair fell down to her shoulders, and her eyes were of an unearthly green. She wore a simple crimson top with darker crimson jeans.

Setting her Clow Deck in the correct spot, Sakura glanced at her adversary. She had watched her defeat Mako before, and she wasn't about to let the same thing happen to her.

"Are you ready, Pyra?" asked Sakura.

"Ready whenever you are, Avalon. Let's Duel!"

Sakura: 4000 

**Pyra: 4000**

"For my first monster, I'll summon Spirit of the Harp, in Defense Mode!" said Sakura. "And I'll lay a card face-down to end my turn!"

Pyra drew her next card. "Hmm…I'll begin by playing the field magic card, Molten Destruction!" The playing field switched from normal to a volcanic wasteland. Rivers of magma flowed between the cracks of black rock. Sakura was taken aback at the realism of the hologram. She could feel its heat and smell the molten rock. And boy, it wasn't a really good smell to put up with.

'I hope I beat her quickly so I won't have to tolerate this anymore!' she thought.

"I'll lay another card face-down, and I'll play Darkfire Soldier #1, in Attack Mode!" On the first slot on Pyra's side of the field, a soldier covered in flames appeared, holding a large curved blade.

DarkFire Soldier #1 – ATK: 1700/DEF: 1150 

"And with the magic of Molten Destruction, all Fire Attribute monsters increase their attack power by 500 points!"

"What?!" asked Sakura. "No way!"

**Darkfire Soldier #1 – ATK: 2200/DEF: 750**

"Now, my Soldier, attack Spirit of the Harp with Blazing Slash!" (A/N: For monsters not on the show, I'm just making up some names for their attacks.)

The flaming Soldier leaped forward and annihilated the Defense monster, shattering it into many pieces.

"That'll finish my turn," said Pyra. "Your move."

Sakura nervously drew her next card. In just one move, her opponent would be able to destroy any monster she lays on the field, attack _or_ defense. Sakura's only hope would be to play strategically, rather than with power, because between the two decks, Pyra's was the one with the superior power.

However, Sakura knew from experience that strength didn't always win. She drew her next card.

"I'll set a monster in facedown defense mode," said Sakura. "And lay another card facedown to end my turn."

"I'll summon Flame Manipulator in Attack Mode!" shouted Pyra. "With Molten Destruction on the Field, it gains 500 Attack Points!"

Flame Manipulator – ATK: 1400/DEF: 600 

"And I'll lay another card face-down on the field," said the redheaded teenager. "Darkfire Soldier #1, attack her monster with Blazing Slash!"

"And I'll activate my trap, Negate Attack!" said Sakura. "So the attack phase is skipped. Now, I think it's my move." She drew. "I'll sacrifice my face-down monster to set another monster in defense mode. I'll end my turn with another face-down card."

Pyra drew her next card. "Hmm, not bad. I'll play Masaki, the Legendary Swordsman in Attack Mode!"

Masaki the Legendary Swordsman – ATK: 1100/DEF: 1100 

"Why did you play such a weak monster?" asked Sakura. "I don't think Masaki has any special abilities or anything, and he isn't even a Fire attribute monster!"

"Don't worry, dear Sakura," smirked Pyra. "You will know soon enough. Go Darkfire Soldier #1! Attack her face-down monster now!" Sakura flipped it over revealing it to be…

"Millenium Shield!"

Millennium Shield – ATK: 0/DEF: 3000 

"No!" cried Pyra. "That shield's defense points are more than my monster's attack points!"

"Exactly," smiled Sakura. "So you lose life points equal to the difference of the two."

Pyra: 3200 

**Sakura: 4000**

"My move," said Sakura. "I'll set another monster in defense mode!"

'She's putting all of her defenses up,' thought Pyra. 'She must be scared. No matter. My deck bases itself off of the power of fire, and it will only take a small spark to burn the forest.'

************************************

"Hmph, I can't believe TK made me stay up here with you!" grumbled Patamon. He and the mythical guardian of the Clow Cards were sitting in the dark of the attic, bored out of their minds.

"Shut up, hamster!" shouted Kero. "At least I'm _trying _to think of something to do!"

"You're looking at old stuff that no one wants anymore," muttered Patamon. "What fun is that? There is a _reason_ that Yugi and his Grandpa stuck it all up here!"

"Well, excuse me, my pig-hamster friend, but I'm very into antiques," Kero said indignantly.

"Considering you _are_ one," chuckled Patamon.

"Hey!" shouted Kero. "Before you make any more criticisms, come look at some of this stuff!" Patamon flew down to look at the trunk that Kero was digging through. Kero emerged with an old photo album, blowing away some of the dust on it. "Let's see what's in here!"

Patamon shrugged and looked with Kero. "Hey, there's Yugi's grandfather and some other old geezer," said Kero.

"They look like they're into Archaeology," said Patamon. "Hey! I think that's Egypt!"

"Which was your first clue? The sphinx, the sand, or the pyramids?"

"That brochure in his pocket right there!" smiled Patamon, pointing to the picture of Grandpa. "See?" Kero rolled his eyes, and turned to another picture.

"Huh, this must be the inside of one of those tombs," Kero told Patamon. "Look, there are some hieroglyphs right there!" Patamon stared at one of the pictures carefully. Kero noticed this. "Hey, pig, what's going on?"

"Shh," hissed Patamon. "I've seen that picture before, somewhere." Kero raised an eyebrow. Patamon smiled suddenly. "I know! I know! That picture of a blonde guy with the sword! He's got a cape and armor and everything."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Kero. Patamon pointed to the pictures.

"Weird," Kero thought. "Some of this kind of stuff never existed back in Ancient Egypt."

"But look at that! That guy is on one of TK's Duel Monster Cards! He's Neo the Magic Swordsman!"

"_What?!_" Kero took a better look. He had to admit, the two were similar. In fact, many of these drawings he had seen in this card shop. But something was always bothering him as he looked at the hieroglyphs some more. He felt he had seen some of them before now, like many years ago. Kero turned the page and gasped.

***************************************

"It's my move!"  shouted Pyra, drawing her next card. "I will now take the liberty to play a monster in defense mode as well. I will also use Polymerization to fuse together Masaki and Flame Manipulator to form the mighty Flame Swordsman!"

Flame Swordsman – ATK: 2300/DEF: 1200 

"Since Fusion Monsters take one turn to attack, I'll leave it at that. Your move, Sakura."

Sakura drew her next card. 'My Millenium Shield should be enough defense for now. I'll have to take an offensive some time. Here goes.'

"Woodland Sprite, in Attack Mode!" shouted Sakura.

Woodland Sprite – ATK: 900/DEF: 400 

"What's that thing gonna do to me?" laughed Pyra.

"You'll see," smiled Sakura. "I'll lay two cards face-down and end my turn."

"You've got another thing coming if you think that little leaf is going to beat me," smirked Pyra as she drew her next card. "I'll summon Skull Red Bird in Attack Mode!"

Skull Red Bird – ATK: 1550/DEF: 1200 

"And I will now flip over my face-down monster, Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu!"

Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu – ATK: 1000/DEF: 100 

"Now, thanks to his flip ability, I can add an Equipment Magic Card from my Deck to my Hand. I'll take this one. Now, I'll equip Flame Swordsman with the powerful Axe of Despair!"

"Oh no!" whispered Sakura. "I know that card! It'll raise flame Swordsman's attack by 1000!"

A flaming Axe replaced Flame Swordsman's sword, as his attack points gained another boost.

Flame Swordsman – ATK: 3300/DEF: 1200 

"Go Flame Swordsman! Attack Millennium Shield with Flaming Axe of Despair!"

"Activate trap, Mirror Force!" shouted Sakura. "It'll destroy all of your monsters!"

"Not so fast, Sakura," smiled Pyra. "I've got a trap card as well, Seven Tools of the Bandit! At a cost of 1000 of my Life points, I can negate the effects of your trap card! Millennium Shield is gone!"

The mighty Axe broke through the powerful Shield, and it shattered.

"Now, Darkfire Soldier #1, destroy her second defense monster with Blazing Slash!"

"I'll activate my second trap, Magic Arm Shield! This trap allows me to redirect your attack to another monster, even one on your side! How about attacking that Iron Blacksmith?"

A hatch opened on the large shield and an arm stretched out, grabbing Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu, and Blazing Slash was directed to it!

Sakura: 4000 Pyra: 2000 

"You are now down to half your life points, Vulcan," smiled Sakura. "Still think nothing can stand against fire?"

"Just you wait, Avalon, I'll come back," growled Pyra. "Your move."

Sakura drew her next card. "Perfect. I'll play Horn of the Unicorn and equip it to my Woodland Sprite!"

**Woodland Sprite –** **ATK: 1600/DEF: 1100**

"And now, using my Sprite's Special Ability, I can offer the Equip card as a tribute to deal 500 points of direct damage to your life points!"

Sakura: 4000 Pyra: 1500 

"How's that for power, miss Vulcan?" asked Sakura. "I'll lay one card face-down and end my turn."

'This girl's good,' thought Pyra as she drew her next card. 'Not many have been able to get me down this much without losing any life points. I'll have to try harder than this to defeat her.' She looked at the card she just drew.

"I'll play Pot of Greed!" she told her. "This magic card allows me to draw two cards from my deck." Pyra looked at the two cards she drew and laughed. "Now, Sakura Avalon, feel the true force of Fire! I'll play Dark Hole, to destroy all monsters on the field!"

"No!" cried Sakura. "This is not good."

"I'll now use my trap card Ultimate Offering. By paying 500 Life Points, I can perform another summon on the same turn. I'll Start by Playing Faith Bird from my hand, then paying 500 Life Points to summon the mighty Twin Headed Fire Dragon!"

Twin Headed Fire Dragon – ATK: 2200/DEF: 1700 

"With the power of Molten Destruction, my Dragon gains 500 Attack Points!"

Twin Headed Fire Dragon – ATK: 2700/DEF: 1300 

"Go, Twin Headed Fired Dragon! Attack her Life points directly!" The mighty two-headed dragon flew in on Sakura, and both Heads fired orbs of fire at the girl.

Sakura: 1300 

**Pyra: 1000**

"And now, to end my turn, I'll play the magic card Ookazi, to deal you 800 points of direct damage!"

Sakura: 500 

**Pyra: 1000**

"In just one turn, she reduced my life points to an eighth of what they were originally," muttered Sakura. "There has to be a way to come back. If the card I get isn't a good one, then I'm done for." She drew and revealed her card to be a Graceful Charity. "This will come in handy for now. I'll play Graceful Charity, to draw 3 cards, and discard 2." Sakura looked at her hand and thought for a few seconds.

'Fire Princess…this card was supposed to represent the Firey card. She'll gain attack points by Pyra's Molten Destruction card, but it won't be enough to beat that dragon of hers…wait a minute! I have another card in my hand that can work well! I hope Windy and Firey can work together to pull us through right now. I just need a way to stall for a bit of time.'

"I'll set two cards face down on the field, and summon Spirit of the Breeze in Attack mode!" shouted Sakura. A blue-haired fairy in a flowing white robe appeared on the field.

Spirit of the Breeze – ATK: 0/DEF: 1800 

"That ends my turn," said Sakura.

"An amateur tactic," laughed Pyra. "You probably left some trap card there for me to step on, huh? It would probably destroy my dragon." Pyra drew her next card. "Well, it appears that your traps will live for now. I'll just take this opportunity to summon UFO Turtle to the field, in Attack Mode!"

UFO Turtle – ATK: 1900/DEF: 800 

"And I'll lay two cards face-down on the field as well. Your move, Sakura."

"At the end of your turn, I'll activate my trap card, Solemn Wishes! I gain 500 Life points every time I draw a card, like so." Sakura drew, and gained 500 life Points.

Sakura: 1000 Pyra: 1000 

"And now, during my Standby Phase, since my Spirit of the Breeze is in face-up Attack Position, I gain 1000 Life Points."

Sakura: 2000 Pyra: 1000 

"Shit," muttered Pyra. "No matter. I can still deal you enough direct damage to wipe out all of your life points."

"I'll now summon Fire Princess, in Attack Mode!"

Fire Princess – ATK: 1300/DEF: 1500 

"And thanks to _your_ molten destruction card, she gains 500 attack points, am I right?"

Fire Princess – ATK: 1800/DEF: 1100 

"That would end my turn, miss Vulcan," said Sakura. "Your move."

Pyra growled at Sakura. "This isn't over! I'll play monster Reborn to return Flame Swordsman from the Graveyard. I'll now use Polymerization to fuse the Faith Bird and Skull Red Bird in my hand to summon Crimson Sunbird!"

Crimson Sunbird – ATK: 2800/DEF: 1400 

"That's three of my most powerful Monsters, Sakura. You're not going to be dealing me any damage, since your monster's attack points are way too low. Also, I'll play Dian Keto the Cure master, to raise my Life Points by 1000, just to be on the safe side. Your move."

Sakura: 2000 

**Pyra: 2000**

"That was your last move, Pyra," smiled Sakura after she drew her last card.

"What do you mean?" demanded Pyra.

"My Fire Princess isn't the type of monster who attacks, Miss Vulcan. She has a much more useful ability than that. You lose 500 Life points every time I gain Life Points!"

"WHAT?!"

"So, by drawing, I activate Solemn Wishes, so I gain 500 Life Points. Now, Fire Princess Deals you 500 damage!" The beautiful maiden of Fire stood and threw fireballs at Pyra's Life points.

Sakura: 2500 Pyra: 1500 

"Now, it's my standby Phase, and Spirit of the Breeze lets me gain 1000 Life Points, so you lose another 500!" Fire Princess threw another fireball at Pyra.

Sakura: 3500 Pyra: 1000 

"And now, to finish the game! It ends when I play the magic card, Pot of Greed! I get to draw 2 cards, meaning Solemn Wishes activates twice, and Fire Princess uses her ability twice! Your Life points are gone, Pyra Vulcan!"

"NO!" cried the red-haired teenager. "How could this be? My monsters are supposed to be unstoppable!"

"As the saying goes, Pyra, fight fire with fire," smiled Sakura.

**********************************

A few minutes later, Sakura was with TK and Yugi. Both boys were congratulating her on her third win at Duel Mosnters.

"You're very impressive, Sakura," laughed Yugi. "You picked up the game only a couple days ago and are now beating professional duelists."

"Well, I'm a fast learner," Sakura blushed. "Anyway, it's the final duel next, TK. We both made it."

"Yeah," he sighed. "Good Luck, Sakura." He extended a hand for her. Sakura smiled and took it gladly. Yugi smiled at the two. There was going to be one heck of a duel coming up, and no matter what, one of them would prevail.

************************************

Davis Motomiya lay down on his bed, wide-awake. It was now an hour past midnight, and he still couldn't sleep. Meilin and the other had gone home, and they were going to meet up in the morning to hang out.

"Meilin…" the boy muttered. He was still thinking about what Jun had said earlier.

"Looks like we found you a girlfriend, little bro…" 

'Girlfriend?' wondered Davis. He had liked Kari for so long now. He had dreams of the day he and Kari would finally get together and live happily ever after. Even though he had given up fighting with TK for her, he still had feelings for her. What scared him was the fact that he had almost completely forgotten about her after meeting Yugi Moto and his friends, and now, he felt like he was developing feelings for the Chinese girl, Meilin. The two of them could compare so easily, unlike him and Kari.

"Why does it have to be so complicated?" he muttered. "WHY?!"

"Maybe you can sleep on it," muttered DemiVeemon. "Some of the rest of us are. Good night."

Davis sighed. It was going to be a long night.

************************************

Ok that was a kinda pointless ending, but if anyone was wondering about the inner struggle of our season two goggle-boy, here it is. Poor guy. Anyways, this duel was shorter than the last one, but my weeks have been loaded with a whole ton of crap! I barely found time to write in the past 4-5 weeks. So, sorry about the lamer duel.

Next Chapter: The duel between TK and Sakura. Davis tries to sort out all of his emotions. What exactly did Kero find in those photos? (Even though some of you probably guessed already.) All this coming up in the next chapter of King of Games!


	13. Duel Between Friends: Part I

King of Games 

Chapter 12

*The final duel in the Kaiba Land pre-tournament between Takeru Takaishi and Sakura Avalon will begin in five minutes. Will the two finalists please advance to the dueling arena.*

"I guess we're going up against each other now," sighed TK.

"Yeah," laughed Sakura. "Kinda ironic, isn't it? Knowing that we battled some pretty tough duels just to end up facing each other, huh?"

"Good Luck, my friend," TK stuck his hand out for the card captor. Sakura smiled and gladly took it. Yugi laughed as he watched.

"This will be quite a duel," he laughed.

*******************************

"What did you see?" asked Patamon. "Come on, Kero, let me see. I wanna see! Lemme see! Lemme see!"

"Shut up, you loudmouthed pig," muttered the Clow Guardian. "See this guy in the hieroglyphics over here?" Kero pointed to a picture of a tall man in a cloak. Even though it was a hieroglyph, and the figure was unclear, Patamon could make out a hand clutching what looked like…

"A card?" wondered the bat-pig. "Who is this guy?"

"I think I know," said Kero. "That man was a powerful sorcerer from the East. A man who had the power to change the world."

"Who is he?" asked Patamon. "I hate being kept in suspense!"

"Clow Reed…" whispered Kero. "The creator of the mystical Clow Cards."

"Cool," Patamon sighed.

"From the looks of the card, I'd say that he must've shown the power to the ancient Egyptians," Kero told the digimon. "Look here, the picture next to him."

The picture showed a young woman with hair tied in two pig tails, as well as some Asian clothing. "That is the form of the Fight Card. Something must have happened to Clow Reed when he was in Egypt." It was there that the photo stopped. There wasn't any more to show.

Kero sighed. "This is it. We won't be able to find out more."

Patamon groaned. "Now what are we going to do?"

"Hey look! Duel Monsters cards!" said Kero. "Wanna play?"

"Sure! I've seen TK play a lot! I know how to play!"

****************************************

The final match of the tournament was beginning. TK stood on the Red side of the field, and Sakura stood on the blue side. Both put their decks in their places.

"It's time to duel!" both shouted.

TK: 4000 Sakura: 4000 

TK had the first move. Drawing his first card, he shouted, "Dunames Dark Witch, in Attack Mode!" The angel appeared on his side of the field.

**Dunames Dark Witch –** **ATK: 1800/DEF: 1050**

"Your move," he said to Sakura.

The card captor drew. "I'll set a monster in defense mode, and play a card face-down on the field. Your move."

"I'll summon Neo the Magic Swordsman in attack mode!"

Neo the Magic Swordsman – ATK: 1700/DEF: 1000 

"I'll now play Heavy Storm to destroy your trap card! Now, Neo the Magic Swordsman, Attack her defense monster with Shining Cutter!"

The monster revealed itself to be…

Spirit of the Harp – ATK: 800/DEF: 2000 

"Your monster's attack points are 300 less than my monsters, meaning you lose 300 life points, TK!"

**TK:** **3700**

Sakura: 4000 

"Shoot," muttered TK. "Your move."

Sakura drew her next card. "Let's begin with Mechanical Chaser in Attack Mode!"

**Mechanical Chaser – ATK: 1850/DEF: 800**

"And I'll place another card face-down on the field! Go Mechanical Chaser! Destroy Dunames Dark Witch!"

The floating mechanical ball with arms destroyed the angel.

TK: 3650 Sakura: 4000 

"Your move, TK."

"I'll play Shining Angel in defense mode, and switch Neo the Magic Swordsman into defense mode as well. That'll end my turn."

Shining Angel – ATK: 1400/DEF: 800 

"I've seen your angel before, TK, and I know what you're up to. You're using him to summon your Hoshiningen to the field and power up your monsters! Well, it's not going to work. I'll set a monster in Defense mode and end my turn."

"Let's go with Maha Vailo in Attack Mode."

Maha Vailo – ATK: 1550/DEF: 1400 

"And I'll equip Maha Vailo with my Elf's Light Magic card. This equip magic card gives all light monsters a boost of 400 points in ATK. Plus, Maha Vailo gets an extra 500 ATK points for all equipment magic cards attached to it."

Neo the Magic Swordsman – ATK: 2100/DEF: 800 

**Shining Angel – ATK: 1800/DEF: 600**

Maha Vailo – ATK: 2450/DEF: 1200 

"Neo the Magic Swordsman, destroy Mechanical Chaser!"

TK: 3650 Sakura: 3750 

"Maha Vailo, attack her Spirit of the Harp!"

"Activate trap, Spellbinding Circle!" The circle appeared and restrained Maha Vailo from attacking again. "I was waiting for you to attack with your Maha Vailo before activating this trap, TK. I see I've made a wise choice. Are you done yet?" TK sighed and nodded. Sakura drew her next card. "I'll sacrifice my Spirit of the Harp and my Defense monster to summon Sword Hunter!" (A/N: ok, taro-chosen92, I put him in. Appreciate your suggestion, because I was disputing over what card should represent the Fight Card. It's not exactly the _best_ card to represent it, but it's a good card to fit into her deck.)

Sword Hunter – ATK: 2450/DEF: 1700 

"Destroy Neo the Magic Swordsman, Maha Vailo!"

TK: 3300 Sakura: 3750 

"Now, the soul of the destroyed monster is transformed into a sword, and it will add 200 attack points to my Sword Hunter!" Neo's shattered parts came together to form a sheathed katana. Sakura's Sword Hunter grabbed it and placed the new sword into his belt.

Sword Hunter – ATK: 2650/DEF: 1700 

"Your Maha Vailo is next, TK. Until then, it's your move."

'She's brilliant,' thought TK. 'I've been playing for much longer than she has, but I don't think I've faced anyone who could negate my strategies so easily. I thought for sure that Maha Vailo would be the best idea to take her down with.' He drew. 'This'll do.'

"Hoshiningen in Attack Mode!"

Hoshiningen – ATK: 500/DEF: 700 

"You saw my Duel against Jeremy Virus, Sakura, so you know what's coming up now," smirked the Chosen of Hope. "All my Light monster's attacks are raised by 500!"

Shining Angel – ATK: 2300/DEF: 600 

**Maha Vailo – ATK: 2950/DEF: 1200**

**Hoshiningen – ATK: 1300/DEF: 700**

"Since my Maha Vailo is still under the mercy of Spellbinding Circle, I'll end my turn."

Sakura drew. "Maybe I won't be able to destroy your Maha Vailo this turn, but that Hoshiningen is fair game. Go, Sword Hunter! Destroy Hoshiningen!" Sword Hunter unsheathed the sword that was created by Neo the Magic Swordsman's soul and sliced apart the small star.

TK: 1950 

**Sakura: 3750**

"So much for your powered up monsters, TK. Now, Sword Hunter gets another soul sword and increases his Attack points by 200!"

Sword Hunter – ATK: 2850/DEF: 1700 Shining Angel – ATK: 1800/DEF: 600 

Maha Vailo – ATK: 2450/DEF: 1200 

'That Hoshiningen stalled me one turn, but my Life Points are even lower now,' thought TK. 'Sakura's become an exceptional duelist in such a short period of time. I'm impressed.' TK drew his next card. "I'll lay one monster face-down. I'll now switch my Shining Angel to Defense mode, and lay one card facedown to end my turn."

'He's resorting to defenses now,' thought Sakura. 'I think TK's finally met a monster too powerful for him.' She drew her next card. 'Ah, this should be perfect to get rid of that trap card of his. After that, his Maha Vailo is fair game.'

"Mystical Space Typhoon, destroy his trap card!" Sakura commanded, unleashing the fury of her magic card onto the field.

"Activate Waboku!" (A/N: At least for Waboku, I think you can activate it when a magic card is played.) "This very useful trap card allows all damage to me and my monsters for this turn be reduced to 0! So, attacking would be redundant. Are you finished?"

"Darn," muttered Sakura. "Now none of his monsters can be destroyed this turn. I'll end my turn now."

'Perfect,' thought TK. 'The only thing that can beat that Sword Hunter now is this monster. I'll just have to do a bit of tweaking first.'

"I'll sacrifice Shining Angel and Maha Vailo to summon my Wingweaver!" The large six-winged purple haired angel woman appeared on the field.

Wingweaver – ATK: 2750/DEF: 2400 

"Now, I'll flip over my face-down monster, Magician of Faith, to return one magic card from my graveyard to my hand!"

Magician of Faith – ATK: 300/DEF: 400 

"And here's the magic card I returned, Elf's Light! Now, I'll equip it to Wingweaver to increase the ATK points of all Light Mosnters by 400 and decrease their defense by 200."

Wingweaver – ATK: 3150/DEF: 2200 

**Magician of Faith – ATK: 700/DEF: 200**

"Now, I'll place a card face-down on the field and use Wingweaver to destroy your Sword Hunter! With the wielder destroyed, the souls of my monsters return to my graveyard."

TK: 1950 Sakura: 3450 

"Now, time to attack your life points directly with Magician of Faith!"

TK: 1950 Sakura: 2750 

"Your move, Sakura." Said TK.

"I'll draw a card, and play Raigeki to destroy all monsters on your side of the field!" A flash of lightning crashed onto TK's Wingweaver and Magican of Faith and destroyed them.

"Now, I'll summon King Fog in Attack Mode!"

King Fog – ATK: 1000/DEF: 900 

"Go King Fog! Attack his life points with Deadly Smog!"

"Activate Mirror Force! It'll destroy your monster before I get attacked!"

The trap card activated and destroyed Sakura's monster. The field was clear of all cards now. Both duelists were battling fiercely, neither one wanting to give in. Now, they both had two cards left in their hands, and no cards left on the field. The crowd in the Kaiba Land lobby watched anxiously for the Card Captor to finish her turn.

"I'll play Pot of Greed to draw Two cards," she told TK. "And set three Cards facedown on the field. Your move."

TK drew. "I'll set three cards facedown on the field as well. Your turn."

*******************************

"Both have run out of hand," said Yugi. "And they both have 3 face-down cards on the field. This next turn could be the grand finale."

The crowd watched on, awaiting the final move that would make one duelist the victor.

*******************************

TBC! Haha! Betcha all are anxious to know if the Card Captor or the Chosen of Hope would emerge victorious! Well, ur just gonna hafta find out next chap! ^_^ Neway, after this tournament, there's still the thing about Kari and the Evil Digimon. To clear things up, I will not reveal the Evil Digimon until the final Duel of this fic. (Yes, there will be a FINAL DUEL! I know I gave it away, but u ppl should've figured it out by now.) I also know I sed there would be some Davis in this Chapter. Sry, I lied. ^_^;; Well, R&R!


	14. Duel Between Friends: Part II

**King of Games **

_Chapter 13_

"We're on equal terms as of now," said Sakura. "We both have no cards in our hands, and we have 3 cards face-down on the field and no monsters."

"Our next moves will decide the game," smiled TK. "You ready? It's your move, Sakura."

She nodded, putting her hand on her next card. "TK, before I make this move…I want to thank you."

This was something obviously unexpected by TK. Sakura was his friend, but she was also his opponent. She wasn't supposed to thank him, especially not in the middle of a duel. "What do you mean?" the boy asked. The card captor smiled.

"For being a worthy duelist," she told him. "And for helping me get into this game. No matter what the outcome is of this game, I'm happy to say that you'll be more than capable of rescuing Kari."

"Sakura…" whispered TK. She reminded him so much of his best friend that it was beginning to scare him. She was very optimistic, and would show compassion for her opponent in the middle of her duel. She never wanted to make enemies, but friends. Always friends…

* * *

Nine-year-old TK laughed as he and Kari played in the sandbox at the park together. Their brothers had decided to get together over the weekend to catch up on old times. Matt and Tai had both left to get their younger siblings some ice cream.

"TK, you're sitting on you sandcastle," giggled Kari.

"It's not a castle. It's a chair," laughed TK. "My castles always end up smushed anyway. I like to make piles."

"Piles of sand? That's so boring," Kari told him. "This was so much more fun with Patamon and Gatomon."

"I know," TK agreed. "After we went back and gave up our crests, remember what happened after that?"

"Yeah, the Digital World became so pretty," Kari recalled. "We went to the Beach where Agumon first digivolved into Greymon, and played there for hours."

The two of them sighed, remembering the good times they had with their digimon partners. Just then, a large boy about 10 years old walked up to TK. He was tall for a ten year old, around 5 feet tall to be exact. His hair was brown and messy, and he had a big nose. His t-shirt was a size too small for him, and his pants were a size too big. He walked over to the young blonde boy and picked him up by the collar.

"Gimme your money, you twerp," he demanded. "Or I'll hafta…do stuff to ya. Hey, you're that TK kid in my class!"

"Class?" asked Kari.

"He's been held back a year," TK told her. "Listen, Kane, I don't have money!"

"Sure ya don't," chuckled Kane. "Hand it over or I'll hafta give you a wedgie!"

"Here," Kari told him, handing him a 100 yen bill. (A/N: That's about a dollar, right?)

"Huh?" he asked, taking it from her. "Why'd you give me this?"

"First, I'd like you to put down my best friend," she told him. Kane dropped TK to the ground. "Why do you want this money so badly?"

"I wanted to buy some ice cream," he told her. "What's it to you?"

"If you wanted ice cream, you could have asked," said Kari. TK sat there astonished. His best friend was standing up to the school bully. "My brother is getting some for us. We could have saved you the trouble of trying to take money from other people if you had only asked us." Kane stood there dumbfounded.

"But no one ever wants to give me their money," said Kane.

"You're not used to this 'being nice' business, are you?" giggled Kari. "They won't give you money because you're mean. If you try making friends, then they'll help you out. For example, TK's my best friend, and I'd stand up for him no matter what the circumstance. And I know he'd so the same. He's done it before."

"Gee, I never thought of it that way," Kane told her, scratching his head. "Can you be my friend too?"

"If you stop being mean, I will," she told him, smiling. Kane, for the first time since TK had seen him, actually smiled as well. Kane walked over to TK.

"I'm real sorry about trying to beat you up," Kane told him. He extended an arm out for the nine-year-old. "Let me help you up." TK accepted with a smile.

Later that day, Kari and TK were sitting on the swings. The sun was beginning to set, and Matt and Tai were finishing up their soccer game. "Kari, thanks for standing up for me back there," TK told her.

"You're my best friend, TK," she replied. "I know if I'm in trouble, you'd save me. I'd do the same thing for you. Nothing will ever change that."

TK was touched by his best friend's loyalty. He knew that he would have to be her guardian whenever it comes time, like she was for him that day. He'd protect her, like he promised Tai and Sora.

Kari…

* * *

"Kari…" TK whispered. Tears began to well up in his eyes. "I wasn't there to protect you when I should have been. I swear that will never happen again. Ever." The Digidestined of Hope looked at the Card Captor with determination in his eyes. "Sakura, your move."

Sakura smiled and drew. "I'm summoning the powerful Gemini Elf in Attack Mode!"

**Gemini Elf – ATK: 1900/DEF: 900__ **

"And I'll flip over one of my face-down cards, Horn of the Unicorn, to power up Gemini Elf's Attack by 700 points! Go Gemini Elf, Attack his Life Points Directly!"

**Gemini Elf – ATK: 2600/DEF: 1600 **

"Activate my Mystical Space Typhoon!" shouted TK. "You used one before, so you know that it'll destroy your magic card!"

"My turn to counter with this, Driving Snow!" shouted Sakura. "I can use it to destroy your Mystical Space Typhoon!"

"Activate my second Waboku!" shouted TK. "Now that I've made you waste your Trap Card, I can now save my Life Points with this card! Are you finished?"

"Yeah, your move," smiled Sakura. TK drew his next card.

"I'll use Graceful Charity to draw 2 cards and discard 1. Now, I'll use the Pot of Greed that I just drew to draw a second 2 cards. Now that that's over, I'm going to reveal my final face-down card, Novox's Prayer, to sacrifice two monsters from my hand, namely my Neo the Magic Swordsman and a Shining Angel from my hand, and summon my powerful Skull Guardian!"

**Skull Guardian – ATK: 2050/DEF: 2500 **

"Now, I'll summon Hoshiningen to the Field in Defense Mode!" Our favorite little star monster appeared on the field next to Skull Guardian. "You know what this means, Sakura," smirked TK. "All Light monsters have their attacks raised by 500 points!"

**Skull Guardian – ATK: 2550/DEF: 2500 **

**Hoshiningen – ATK: 1000/DEF: 700**

"Finally, my last card is my second Mystical Space Typhoon," said TK. "And I'll use it to wipe out that Horn of the Unicorn!"

**Gemini Elf – ATK: 1900/DEF: 900 **

"Go, Skull Guardian, destroy her Gemini Elf with Twin Blade Strike!"

Skull Guardian lunged forward and sliced Sakura's Gemini Elf into pieces before the weaker monster disintegrated.

**TK: 1950 **

**Sakura: 2100**

"How's that, Sakura?" asked TK.

'This is the toughest duel I've been in yet,' thought Sakura. 'Not that that's saying much. I've only been in a few others, and TK _did_ make it to the finals. I'm glad. He's really gaining his confidence, but I have my own reasons to win this duel. If the Game Card stays untamed, it'll cause devastation to that Digital World that TK told us about, and maybe even to our world.' Sakura drew her next card. "I'll set one monster face-down in defense mode," said Sakura. "Your move."

"I'm really sorry about this, Sakura," whispered TK, more to himself than anyone else as he drew his next card. "I'll summon my last Hoshiningen to the Field in Attack mode!" said TK.

**Hoshiningen – ATK: 1500/DEF: 700**

**Skull Guardian – ATK: 3050/DEF: 2500 **

**Hoshiningen – ATK: 1500/DEF: 700 **

"I'm really sorry about this, Sakura," whispered TK, more to himself than anyone else. "I'll send one Hoshiningen to Attack your defense monster!" The little star flew over to the Card Captor's defense monster, and destroyed it, but not before it was revealed to be…

"Penguin Soldier!" Sakura shouted proudly. "Thanks to you flipping it over, I can choose up to two of your monsters and send them back to your hand!" (A/N: This is supposed to represent the Jump card, because I figured the best comparative to "Jumping" in Duel Monsters is "Bouncing". ;;)

"Damn," said TK. "I'm guessing you're sending my Skull Guardian and my Hoshiningen that didn't attack back to my hand?"

"On the contrary, TK," Sakura told him. "I'm sending back your two Hoshiningen, thus lowering the attack of your Skull Guardian back to 2050." TK's two Hoshiningen left the field, leaving behind his powerful Skull Guardian.

"Well, then," said TK. "Skull Guardian, Twin Blade Strike!"

**TK: 1950**

**Sakura: 50 **

"Since I already made a summon this turn, it's your move," TK told her.

'This is the closest I've gotten to losing,' thought Sakura. 'This game depends on my next card. Please, Heart of the Cards, give me what I need…so that I may have the strength to save both worlds…' She drew.

"Sakura, you're 50 life points away from losing. Even the weakest monster could take you down now," TK told her. "This is the point when you should give up."

"I'm not backing down, TK," smiled Sakura. "You're not the only one who's determined to win. I have a reason too…and it was reason enough for my deck to throw the right card out for me. I'm playing Change of Heart!"

"_Change of Heart?!_" gasped TK. "That means…"

"Skull Guardian belongs to me for this turn," Sakura finished for him. The twin bladed Warrior moved to Sakura's side of the field. Tears began to fill Sakura's eyes. "TK…this is the hardest move I ever had to make ever since I started Duel Monsters."

TK nodded, putting on a fake smile. "Sakura…go through with it. Win the tournament..."

The Card Captor smiled at the Chosen of Hope. "You've got what it takes to rescue Kari, TK. You're a great duelist. Skull Guardian, attack his Life Points Directly! TWIN BLADE STRIKE!" TK's monster leapt toward him, ready to win this duel for his opponent.

'I failed, Kari,' he thought to himself. 'But I'm still coming back to find you…I'll duel for you in the Digital World…'

Skull Guardian slashed at his Life Points directly, lowering them to 0.

**TK: 0**

**Sakura: 50 **

The winner of the Kaiba Land pre-tournament is Sakura Avalon! the voice over the loudspeaker said. Cheers erupted from the lobby at Sakura's victory.

* * *

Sakura, Yugi, and TK were back at the Game Shop. Sakura's prize for winning the tournament was a rare card that she could use if she was entering Battle City.

"Chaos Command Magician," read Yugi. "Wow, it's like the Dark Magician of Light. What a rare card!"

"Congratulations, Sakura," TK told her. "You deserved to win. You're a great duelist."

"You're really good yourself, TK," laughed Sakura. "That duel was not so easily won, you know. Plus, that card _you _got isn't half bad either."

"Angelic Wing," smiled TK. (A/N: This card is my own creation. I'll write about its abilities later in this fic. )

"No it wasn't," smiled Solomon. "As a reward for you two, I'm letting you both choose a rare card from this box to keep."

"Wow, that's really generous of you, Mr. Motou," smiled Sakura. She picked out a Dark Magician to go with her new Chaos Command Magician. TK peeked in and saw a card that was possibly more powerful than his Wingweaver: It looked like the Black Luster Soldier, but it was a creature of Light. TK shrugged and took it, seeing as how it could really aid him in his duel against the Game Card in the near future.

"You all have had a hard day," smiled Solomon Motou. "I think you two have developed to become fine duelists."

"What do you say, guys?" asked Yugi. "Think we should head back to Tokyo in the morning? I bet we missed some great sightseeing."

"Sure. Our whole point in coming to Domino City was to improve our decks and become better duelists," said Sakura. "We've done what we came for."

TK nodded in agreement.

* * *

After Solomon left, TK and Sakura went to the attic to pick up Patamon and Kero, only to find them chasing each other.

"YOU CHEATER! YOU DREW AN EXTRA CARD SO YOU COULD GET THAT AXE OF DESPAIR!" shouted Patamon.

"COME ON! IT'S NOT LIKE THAT THING YOU DID WITH THE SUMMONED SKULL WAS ANY BETTER, MR. 'I'M SUMMONING A LEVEL 6 MONSTER WITHOUT ANY TRIBUTES'!"

"Alright, you two, break it up," laughed TK. "We're heading back to Odaiba tomorrow morning so rest up." Patamon and Kero groaned.

* * *

TK was still awake an hour later. He couldn't believe that he had lost, even when playing wholeheartedly. "Maybe the Heart of the Cards isn't real," he sighed. He was truly glad that Sakura won, but he wasn't sure about his deck anymore. Did his cards not come through for a reason? Or was he just not a good enough duelist?

"I still have no choice but to go after Kari," he said to himself. "I'll consider this Heart of the Cards business later." He turned over and slowly fell asleep, in hopes that one day, his Light would return to him.

* * *

Oh yea! One of my longest chapters for sure! Hm, this new QuickEdit feature is pretty cool. I'm so happy to see how popular this story is turning out to be, and now that finals are over, I can write again! I finally reached my goal of averaging 10 reviews on each chapter of this story, so I'm not going to post again until this story reaches 140 reviews. Please review!


	15. Return to Highton View Terrace

Wow, that 140 reviews came easier than I thought. Alright, you guys wanted an update, and here it is! Chapter 14 of 'The King of Games'!

**King of Games**

Chapter 14 

_'TK…_' 

_"Who's there?"_

_'TK, it's me…don't you remember?'_

_'Kari?'_

_The Chosen of Hope stood in the midst of blank white. TK looked around for the voice that was calling to him, but he was alone._

_"Kari, where are you?"_

_'This is a dream, TK. You're in a dream.'_

_"I see. Wait…you're not supposed to tell me if I'm in a dream or not!"_

_'It's a dream. Get over it.'_

_TK remained silent. "Alright then, Kari. Please, can you show yourself?" Just then, the light in front of him became obscured and a figure slowly appeared before him. TK opened his eyes to see Kari standing in front of him. "Kari…it _is_ you…"_

_She nodded gently. TK took no time to wait as he embraced his best friend. He was crying on her shoulder, letting out all of his feelings for the past few days after the Game Card took her._

_"Kari, I thought I'd never see you again," he sobbed. Kari smiled and hugged him back._

_"And you call yourself the Chosen of Hope," she laughed. "TK, this is still just a dream, you know."_

_"Let me believe it's real, Kari, until I wake up. Please."_

_Kari giggled. "Alright." TK held her in silence for a few minutes before Kari finally spoke up. "TK…you'll be waking up soon. I wanted to warn you about the Digital World."_

_"What about it?" asked TK._

_"As much as I hate to admit it, I've become a bargaining chip now," Kari sighed. "You're going to have to win me back in one of those card games you and Davis play."_

_"Duel Monsters," TK whispered to himself. "I'm really going to have to duel with your captor, aren't I?" Kari nodded._

_"TK, if you decide to go through with this, you cannot allow yourself to lose. If you do, then you'll be captured as well, and without Hope and Light, the Digital World will fall."_

_"Great, no pressure," muttered TK. Both shared a light laugh. Kari looked at her feet._

_"TK, I have to go now."_

_"We'll see each other again, Kari, I promise," TK smiled. He reached a hand up to her face and pushed a stray hair away from her face before touching her cheek. "I'll come save you." The Chosen of Light lifted her head toward his._

_"I know you will. Just don't lose. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you were captured just because of me."_

_TK nodded. "I won't lose, Kari. I'll bring you home no matter what it takes."_

TK's dream was interrupted by an alarm clock. TK grumbled as he shut it off.

"Too bad it was just a dream," he said to himself. He changed into a blue T-shirt with a small white sun insignia and tan cargo shorts. He hooked his green D-3 to his belt, and put his trusty dueling deck into a special pouch on his belt. Yugi's Grandfather gave one to both him and Sakura before the Kaiba Land pre-tournament began. Walking out of the bathroom, he met up with Yugi.

"Hey, TK," the young duelist smiled. Yugi was dressed very gothic-like. He had a black sleeveless T-shirt on along with matching black pants. He had a brass-colored studded bracelet on his right arm and a blue arm band, a silver version of the studded bracelet, and two smaller ring bracelets on his left arm. His blue belt was also studded, along with a second belt where he keeps his dueling deck. He also wore a black dog collar around his neck. The Millenium Puzzle was hanging on his neck by a steel chain. (To put it simply, what Yugi/Yami wore on his date with Téa.)

"Hey you two," Sakura walked out of her room and greeted the two boys. She was dressed in simply a pair of flare jeans, a white tank top with a picture of a flower on it, and a red jacket. She wore a charm bracelet on her right arm, a keepsake that Li gave her when they went on their first date. She had a pouch for her dueling deck just like TK's, and a second pouch for her other cards.

Patamon and Kero flew down and greeted everyone as well. "So, is everyone ready to go back to Tokyo?" asked Kero.

"You bet," TK told him. "Just let me make a phone call first, okay?"

* * *

"Sora, wake up," Matt whispered to his sleeping girlfriend. The auburn haired teenager slowly opened her eyes and saw Matt's blue eyes looking at her. "TK called. He says that he's coming back from Domino City and heading to Highton View Terrace as we speak. I already called up Tai, Joe, and Izzy. We're all going to meet up there at noon."

"That's great," Sora whispered sleepily. "Wait, what about your mom's guests?"

Matt smiled. "I called Davis. He's going to take them to the nearby sites. You know, since they've already been to Tokyo Tower and such."

Sora got up. "Okay. When do we leave?"

"Right after Davis gets here. He should be here in about an hour."

Later

"DAVIS, I TOLD YOU AN HOUR!" Matt screamed at the younger digidestined.

"Sorry! I can't drive!" Davis cringed in fear. "And, well, I had to wait for Jun to get out of the shower! I just began running over here five minutes ago!"

"Your sister literally took an hour and a half to shower?" asked Sora.

Davis nodded. "Yeah, it shows on our water bill." Matt sighed.

"Okay, Davis. Can you just take these guys somewhere to hang out?"

"Man, is this how your family treats all your guests?" the goggle-head asked.

Matt pounded his fist into his palm. "Only the ones who cooperate," the he told the younger digidestined. Davis shrunk back in fear.

"Okay okay! Just don't hurt me! I've been beaten up enough by Yolei recently!"

* * *

"Sakura's coming back," Li told Madison.

"Okay, I know you two are boyfriend and girlfriend, but that sensing each other's presence thing is really creepy," said Madison. Li just chuckled.

"Well, live with it," he laughed. "Hey, Davis called and we're going to hang out for the day with Téa, Joey, and Tristan. You can stop taking videos of sightseeing and just film all of us having fun."

"Sounds great," smiled Madison, packing her camera. "I know. How about we invite Meilin along? She and Davis can have fun together, don't you think?"

Li nodded smiling. He was glad that Meilin found someone besides him. Even though Sakura was the one that he fell in love with, he felt bad for the Chinese girl. That was all beginning to change, thanks to a certain maroon-haired goggle-boy.

* * *

"Stupid Rain!" Meilin shouted to the sky. It was later that morning, and Davis had managed to gather everyone together. Unfortunately, the weather went against their wishes of walking along the streets of Tokyo, just a group of teenagers having a blast. It had suddenly began raining right when all of them met at the Game Shop where Sakura had her first duel.

"Shouting isn't going to stop the downpour, Meilin," Li told her.

"I know," she sighed. "It makes _me_ feel better though."

"Well, what are we going to do? I really don't feel like playing Duel Monsters at the moment," said Téa.

"I'm hungry," Joey and Davis complained at the same time.

"Well, you're going to have to stay hungry, because I don't think any of us is going to be eating anytime soon with it raining like that."

Suddenly, Davis's D-Terminal began to beep. "An e-mail? At this time?" He quickly turned it on. It was apparently a message from Ken:

**Davis,**

**There's a Digital Gate opening over Highton View Terrace. Many**

**monsters are breaking through of the barrier between worlds.**

**It looks like we're going to need your help over here. Hurry!**

**Ken**

"Crap," muttered Davis. He turned around to see Meilin looking at him.

"You're not just an ordinary guy, are you?" she asked with a grin. Davis blinked in surprise.

"Uh…what are you talking about? Heh…" Davis feebly responded.

"I read your email, Davis," Meilin smirked. "Why on earth would they need _you_ when there are monsters around? And also, where did you get that device? And I was also wondering…how in the world did Sakura and those two guys get all the way to Domino City? You seem to know how everything is happening. I find it rather suspicious."

Davis looked like a deer caught in headlights. Now, all of the others were looking at him as well. Before he could answer, Yolei arrived with Cody in her new car.

"Davis! Hop…in…oh…" Yolei trailed off when she saw the whole group. "Playing tour guide, huh Davis?"

"You're going to where those monsters are, aren't you?" asked Li. Yolei and Cody were shocked.

"N-No…we're just…" Cody began.

"Tell us the truth," Tristan demanded. "I want to know what's really going on here!"

"How did they find out, Davis?" Cody shouted angrily.

"I read his email," smiled Meilin. "He wasn't about to conceal anything from me."

"Listen, we just want to know what's going on," Téa explained. "Davis is our guide around Tokyo. He was kind enough to be with us when he didn't have to. Now he has to leave, and we're not going to be able to find our way around."

Yolei and Cody looked at each other, and then back at the group of teenagers. "Alright, you can come with us under one condition," Yolei told them.

Everyone listened intently. The lavender haired teen pointed to Madison's video camera. "Get my good side, okay?" Everyone facefaulted.

"Hey, Cody, now that they're going to see us anyway, can we get out? It's really stuffy in here," Upamon asked from his duffel bag. Cody sighed.

"Sure, guys, you can come out now." Upamon, Poromon, and Demiveemon all jumped out of the zipped duffel bag. The six non-digidestined teens stared at the little creatures, dumbfounded.

"Hi! I'm Upamon!"

"I'm Poromon!"

"And I'm Demiveemon! Hey Davisth! Isn't it great? We don't have to hide anymore!"

"Yeah, great," muttered Davis.

"Aww! This one's yours Davis?" squealed Meilin, picking up the blue in-training digimon and squeezing him. "It's sooo cute! I want one! Where'dya get him?"

"Maybe we'll explain this to you guys on the way to Highton View Terrace," Cody told her. "You might as well know. As long as you don't tell anyone."

'What have I gotten myself into?' Davis thought to himself, looking at Meilin Squeezing the air out of Demiveemon.

"Alright guys, It's going to be a tight fit, but get in," Yolei commanded. "Next stop, Highton View Terrace!"

"Actually, could we make a stop at Odaiba Hotel?" asked Li. "I need to get something."

"We don't have time!" shouted Cody.

"Fine, five minutes, but that's all you get! If you're not back by then, we're leaving without you," Yolei told him. Li nodded in agreement.

* * *

"SPIKING STRIKE!" shouted Stingmon as he plunged his attack into an attacking Snimon. The latter was knocked out of the sky and onto the concrete road below. The victorious insect digimon had no time to celebrate, as a Kuwagamon attacked him from behind.

"Stingmon!" cried Ken. 'Where the hell are the others?' Highton View Terrace was becoming a war zone, as more and more Digimon were breaking into the real world through a large green rift in the sky. And they weren't being friendly.

Just then, Tai and Joe skidded onto the scene in Tai's red convertible. "Ken! We're here to help out!" he shouted.

"Good," the younger boy nodded. "We need it."

"Agumon digivolve to…Greymon!"

"Gomamon digivolve to…Ikkakumon!"

"Hey, don't forget about us!" Ken turned to see Matt and Sora running into the vicinity. "Sorry we're late," Sora panted. "We took the bus."

"Stupid thing had to stop 3 blocks away," Matt continued. "We ran the rest of the way here."

"I'm ready to fight now," Gabumon told Matt.

"I am too," said Biyomon. "Let's Digivolve!"

"Gabumon digivolve to…Garurumon!"

"Biyomon digivolve to…Birdramon!"

Just then, a small jet flew in and landed on the road that was still intact. Izzy, Tentomon, Mimi, and Palmon jumped out. "Hi guys!" the girl called. "Thanks for the ride, Mr. Pilot! Thank Michael's dad for me!" The pilot just gave her a thumbs-up and left.

"Thanks for dropping and picking us up, Meems," Izzy smiled. The girl just gave him a peace sign.

"Hey, are we going to fight or what?" Palmon demanded. Mimi and Izzy bold held out their digivices.

"Palmon digivolve to…Togemon!"

"Tentomon digivolve to…Kabuterimon!"

More and more digimon were coming through the tear between worlds, however. Ken knew that no matter how much they fought back, they would be overwhelmed eventually.

'But with that tear, we can't even send them back to the digital world,' Ken thought angrily. 'We're fighting a losing battle, and I'm sure they all know it.' Ken didn't have much more time to think when he heard a scream. He looked to the end of the street where a Musyamon was attacking a young woman.

"Stingmon, let's help her!" Ken shouted to his partner.

"I'm kind of busy right now, Ken," shouted the insect Digimon as he attempted to free himself from Kuwagamon's grip. Ken looked at the other digimon. Togemon was boxing with a Frigimon, Ikkakumon was clashing horns with Drimogemon, Greymon was wrestling with Tuskmon, Birdramon and Airdramon were battling in the air, Kabuterimon had his hands full against the fully recovered Snimon, and Garurumon was fending off Mammothmon. In short, there was no digimon available to save this young woman, until…

"Ninja Blade!" Musyamon brought his blade down, only to have it stopped. The mutant samurai digimon looked down to see Li, in his Chinese robes, blocking it with his own sword. The young Chinese teenager easily shoved off the opposing blade and got into a fighting stance, ready to face off against his new opponent.

"Get out of here," he told the woman he just rescued. "I'll handle this guy."

Musyamon picked up his sword and was ready to slice Li in half, when Meilin jumped in and landed a hard kick in his face. The large digimon was knocked back a few feet.

"Whoa…" Davis stared in wonder. Not because Li and Meilin were fighting off a powerful Champion level Digimon, but because Meilin performed a really high jump kick while wearing a skirt, and he was beginning to get a nosebleed at what he saw.

"That's so cool! Dangerous, but cool!" Madison laughed as she taped the battle on camera. "To think, I wasted all this film on _sightseeing!_"

"Those two kick butt!" Tristan exclaimed.

"Yeah! Hit him with your Kung fu, guys!"

"There's no way those two can fend off a Musyamon," Yolei whispered to herself. "Poromon, you're up." The little pink bird bounced out of Yolei's car.

"Poromon digivolve to…Hawkmon! Hawkmon armor digivolve to…Shurimon, the Samurai of Sincerity!"

"You're up next, Upamon," Cody told his little partner.

"Upamon digivolve to…Armadillomon! Armadillomon armor digivolve to…Digmon, the Drill of Power!"

"Davisth?" Demiveemon pulled on the goggle-boy's t-shirt. He was still in shock. "DAVISTH!"

"What?! What?!" Davis snapped out of his trance. "Oh, sorry, heh…"

"Demiveemon digivolve to…Veemon! Veemon digivolve to…Exveemon!"

"Aw, Davis's little monster isn't so cute anymore," Meilin whined as she saw Demiveemon's Champion form.

"Meilin, look out!" shouted Li. The Chinese girl turned to see Musyamon knee her into a nearby wall. The mutant digimon then turned his sights on Li. Davis, quickly jumped out of the car and ran to the Chinese girl's side as Li blocked strike after strike from Musyamon's sword.

Li was skilled with the sword, but Musyamon was born with his ability to wield his weapon. As much as Li hated to admit it, he knew he was only human and couldn't possibly hope to stand against a Digimon for very long. Shurimon and Digmon both started to help him, but they were then confronted by Ninjamon and Meramon. Li was on his own.

The Chinese boy was finally beginning to tire out, when he stepped back and slipped on a puddle, falling on his rear. Musyamon stepped into the large collection of water in front of him, and raised his sword.

"Shogun Sword!"

"Lightning!" Li quickly took out a small piece of parchment with some Chinese characters written on them and pressed it against his sword, firing several thousand volts of electricity into the puddle Musyamon was standing in. The samurai digimon had no time to escape as he was electrocuted, and fell backwards in a daze.

Li panted heavily. "I beat one," he said to himself. "Only thousands more to go. Damn."

"Nice work, Li!" Madison shouted. "I got it all on camera!"

"Wow, that guy's so cool!" Yolei began to become starry-eyed. "I hope he's single!"

"He's not," Téa informed her. Yolei sulked with disappointment.

* * *

"There's Highton View Terrace," TK told Sakura and Yugi.

"There's a hole in the sky over there," Yugi pointed out.

"Man, that place looks like a war zone right now," said Sakura. "A bunch of monsters are fighting down there!"

"Friends of yours?" Keroberos asked Pegasusmon. The armored horse just shook his head. TK looked at the rift opened by the Digital World. As long as it was open, Digimon would be able to come in and out as they pleased and tear up the real world. Just then, all of the digimon the Digidestined fought against disintegrated into data and was sucked back into the dimensional portal.

"What the heck?" TK wondered aloud. It was then that a new figure appeared in the doorway between worlds, holding out his hand as if he had just performed a spell. And it was one that all three of the duelists recognized.

"The Dark Magician!" TK, Yugi, and Sakura exclaimed in realization.

"TK, is this the one that kidnapped your friend?" asked Yugi. TK nodded.

"That rift leads to the Digital World," TK explained to his companions. "That's where that Dark Magician took Kari." At that moment, the rift began to close, and the Dark Magician began to disappear.

"Oh no you don't!" shouted TK. "Some on, Pegasusmon! This is our only chance to get to the Digital World!" The Armored Horse nodded and flew quickly toward the closing gap.

"Should we follow him?" asked Keroberos.

"Do you need to ask?" Sakura responded. She nodded to Yugi, and the two of them took toward the closing rift as well.

* * *

"Are you okay?" Davis asked Meilin after the monsters disappeared.

"I'm fine, goggle-boy," she answered. "Thanks."

"Hey guys! Isn't that Pegasusmon?" Tai interrupted. Everyone looked up. Sure enough, Pegasusmon was flying toward the shrinking hole in the sky.

"And there's Keroberos," Madison pointed her camera at the large lion.

"And that's Sakura!" Li shouted. "What's she doing?!"

"Uh…flying?" Joey asked unsure of what to say.

"What's that huge lion-thing that Yugi's riding on?!" asked Téa. "He could get hurt!"

"Not to mention that cool looking horse that TK's on," Tristan added.

The group watched as their friends flew toward…scratch that, into the rift.

"We have to go after them!" said Matt. Kabuterimon, Birdramon, Exveemon, and Stingmon all flew up to where they disappeared to, only to reach nothing. The gap that formed a gate between worlds disappeared.

"Damn!" cursed Ken. "The digiports are still locked! There's no way that we can get in now!"

"That'll give us time to discuss what just happened," said Joey.

"Yeah, what was going on over there?" asked Téa. Everyone looked at each other, not sure of what to say to each other. Just then, they heard sirens flaring.

"The authorities are arriving," Izzy analyzed. "Listen, if you guys want to know what happened, come to my house. We'll explain everything there." The Card captor and Yu-Gi-Oh groups felt they didn't have much of a choice, so they agreed. After all, after witnessing a huge battle of monsters, knowing what was going on would be at the top of anyone's list of priorities.

* * *

And I'll end it there. That was one of my longest chapters, I bet. Well, the little Tournament part of this story is over. The digimon battle was fun to write even though it wasn't very good. I haven't written one since I finished the Digisword. I finally got the whole group together, though! And the enemy will be revealed very soon...Or will it? R&R!


	16. Revelation of the Dark Magician

**King of Games **

Chapter 15

"So you're telling me that Sakura's in another world?" demanded Li. Currently, the three groups were gathered in Izzy's large apartment discussing everything that was going on for the past few days, while the Digimon (in their in-training forms) were asleep in the corner. Secret after secret was being pulled out of the teenagers, including the Clow Cards, the Millenium Puzzle, and the Digital World.

"I know it's hard to believe, but it's true," Izzy sighed. "Listen, if you don't believe me…"

"We believe you," Madison told him.

"So Yugi's there too?" asked Téa. Ken nodded.

"The way I see it, TK must have revealed our secret to Yugi and Sakura," Ken concluded. "He must have already told them about the Digital World and what happened there. That's why the three of them went to Domino City, and the three of them flew into the Digital rift together."

"And if TK revealed his secret, knowing Yugi, he probably told him about _his_ secret," Tristan added.

"And I'm guessing that since Sakura was using the Fly Card, she revealed _her_ secret as well!" Li agreed. "It all makes sense now!"

"Yeah, it all makes sense…sort of…" Joey was still taking all of this information into his brain. He didn't really get this whole "Digimon" and "Clow Cards" thing, but he didn't want to look stupid in front of everyone.

"Well, I guess it's up to those three to survive on their own for now," sighed Tai. "With the Digiports locked, they can't get out of the Digital World now. And we're stuck in the Real World."

While the others were in their discussion, Davis and Joe were in Izzy's bedroom tending to Meilin.

"It looks like you'll have to stay of that ankle for the day," Joe told the Chinese girl as he finished bandaging up her leg. "I'll see if I can find you some crutches. I'll have to get to my dorm room to find them, though, so I'll be back in about an hour. Don't get off that bed."

"Alright," she told the young doctor. Joe smiled and left, leaving only Davis and Meilin in the room.

"Are you okay?" the maroon-haired boy asked. Meilin nodded.

"I'm fine," she sighed. "I wish I could've been more helpful to you guys though."

"You were great," laughed Davis. "You're really good at fighting."

"Thanks," she replied. "That means a lot to me, goggle-boy."

Davis blushed. "Um…you're welcome…"

They were silent for a few seconds, when Davis spoke again. "Meilin, I was wondering if when this whole thing settles…do you want to go out with me before you leave?"

Meilin was in shock. Had Davis really just asked her out? Did he seriously develop feelings for her _that fast?_ Meilin thought about it. This doofus was probably not the type to be the kind of guy who switches girlfriends every other week. He wouldn't take advantage of her, since he was very loyal. He was a strong person. Anyone could see that. And, Meilin had to admit, he was kind of cute. Meilin came to her conclusion after a few seconds of thought.

"Sure, Davis, I'd love to go out with you," she answered. This made Davis grin from ear to ear.

* * *

"This is the Digital World?" asked Yugi. "Incredible." TK, Yugi, and Sakura woke up in the middle of a jungle after being sucked into the Digital rift. Kero was back to his 'teddy bear' form, and Pegasusmon reverted back to Patamon.

"It's beautiful," Sakura whispered. "I can't believe that it took so much just to preserve this place."

"Believe me, it was not easy. There are some Digimon with powers beyond anything you could imagine," TK told them. "Of course, seeing what _you_ guys have been through, you could probably get a glimpse of what we went through."

Suddenly, TK's D-Terminal began beeping. The Chosen of Hope quickly took it out and opened it.

Apparently, Izzy had sent an email to him:

**TK,**

**The Digital World is in danger, and you and your friends**

**are the only ones who can stop it! If you remember where**

**Giga House used to be, head over in that direction. I can't**

**pinpoint where you are as of right now, so you guys are**

**on your own. I'll get back to you soon.**

**Izzy**

"We're on our own," chuckled TK. "Very comforting choice of words, Izzy. Like I can remember where Giga House was when I don't even know where I am."

Just then, TK got another email:

**TK,**

**Please help me! The place you're looking for is where**

**Giga House used to be, which is to the northwest of**

**where you landed if you went through that Digital Rift.**

**FYI,**

**Kari**

"Kari?!" gasped TK. "No way!" This got Yugi and Sakura's attention.

"Let me see that," said Sakura. She took the boy's D-Terminal and read the email. "That's weird…"

"What is?" asked Yugi.

"How could she know where the Digital Rift was? She's been in captivity for about five days, hasn't she? And how was it possible for her to send an email in captivity?"

"I admit it's strange," Yugi thought aloud. "Hey, Kero! Think you can scout to the northwest a bit?"

"I'm tired, okay? You rode on my back from Domino City to Tokyo for crying out loud!" the yellow guardian shouted back.

"He's right," Sakura told him. "The two of them must be really tired out now. I am as well, because I used the Fly Card for such a long time."

"We can't stop now!" yelled TK. "We have to keep going! The Game Card and Kari are so close! If you guys want to stay, fine, but I'm going to go after the Game Card!" TK turned around and, following a compass on his D-3, proceeded to march toward the Game Card's lair. His two companions were shocked to see the usually cheerful boy shout at them.

Sakura sighed. She knew how TK must feel at this time. When Li was sucked into that dark void that had devoured all of her Clow Cards before she ever had a chance to tell him that she loved him, she was hurt as well. In those brief moments when she believed Li was gone, Sakura felt practically every negative emotion in existence. (A/N: Cardcaptor movie 2, in case you didn't know.) Most of all, she felt guilt. Guilt that she couldn't save her beloved before they had a chance to be together. And now, TK had endured these same feelings for almost a week. The blond boy had finally figured out how much the girl meant to him when she was taken away. And now was the only time he had ever let them loose.

'He's good at hiding his feelings,' Sakura thought sadly. 'Let them out, TK. It's best if you let out all of your feelings.'

While Sakura was comtemplating the Digidestined's feelings, Yugi ran after him, hoping to calm him down. And to do that, TK would need a more mature individual to talk to. And the only one available was his alter-ego, Yami.

"YU-GI-OH!"

* * *

"They don't understand! How could they?! They've never lost someone so close to them before! They've never had to go through what I had to go through!" TK was shouting angrily to himself, sobbing all along the way. "It's my fault that Kari's gone! I'm the one who should've been taken, not her!"

"And if you were kidnapped, I'll bet Kari would think the same thing," Yami spoke calmly from behind the blond boy.

"Listen, I know you're the King of Games, Yugi, but that doesn't mean that you know what I'm going through! It should've been _me_ who was kidnapped! _ME! _And now I've lost her, and I have to get her back! I'll bet you've never lost someone close to you before!"

"On the contrary, Takeru, I have been through much more than you think," Yami stated, still maintaining his composure. "Do you why I entered the Duelist Kingdom tournament? Why I worked so hard to win against Pegasus?"

"You didn't enter to win the $30 million?" asked TK.

"No, far from it. In fact, I gave that money to Joey for his younger sister's eye operation," Yami told him. "A few weeks after I defeated Seto Kaiba, the world champion, I received a video and an invitation to Duelist Kingdom. The video was of Pegasus, but it was far from an ordinary screenplay. Pegasus used the magic of his Millenium item, the Millenium Eye, to control his image in the videotape. After sending me into the darkness known as the Shadow Realm, I dueled him, with only a limited time to face him. But his eye was more powerful than I thought. He could see the cards in my hand and figured out what strategy I had planned _before_ I played it."

"Incredible," whispered TK. "How did you manage to play?"

"It was a difficult duel, but I almost won, thanks to the Heart of the Cards. My only hope was to put down a card from my deck and play it without seeing it. It worked, until the timer ran out right before Pegasus was defeated. As a result of that loss, TK, Pegasus sealed away my grandfather's soul, and unless I defeated him in Duelist Kingdom, his soul would be locked away for eternity and Pegasus would get my Millenium Puzzle. Thus began my journey."

"Wow," TK was still trying to take in what Yami had told him.

"You took the words right out of my mouth, TK," Sakura laughed as she emerged from the bushes, Kero and Patamon in her arms.

"So you see, TK, we're not all that different," Yami explained. "Don't think that you're the only one who has had problems like this before. And we're saying for your own good, don't let your feelings get in the way of your rational thinking. Right now, we can't risk anything. We're going to need a good night's rest now."

"Let's set up camp," suggested Sakura. "We'll tackle the Game Card first thing in the morning."

TK nodded in agreement. "I'll gather some firewood. Patamon, think you can round up some fish?"

"No need," smiled Sakura. "I'll catch some. Where's the nearest river?" Yugi pointed to the direction behind him. Sakura ran in the said direction, leaving the sleeping Kero and Patamon on some fallen leaves.

As TK left for firewood, Yugi/Yami lay back on a tree, having a conversation with his other self.

_::What are you thinking about, aibou?::_ Yami asked.

_:Exactly why are we involved in this mess?: _Yugi responded. _:Sakura's in it for the Game Card, and TK's in it for Kari. What's our gain?:_

_::Do you remember what Ishizu talked to us about?::_

_:Not really. You're the one who talked with her.:_

_::Oh yeah. Well, anyway, she told me that we're going to have to lead those two into battle. She said that this is a test of our abilities, and if we don't pass, we won't even make it in Battle City.::_

_:What if we don't make it?:_

_::What if we never made it in Duelist Kingdom? Yugi, we are always facing high stakes. That's never stopped us before, and it won't stop us now. We have to win, for both worlds.::_

"Yugi, we're back!" TK and Sakura called, interrupting Yugi's mind debate. "Let's get a fire started."

**The next morning…**

"This is where Giga House used to be," TK gasped. "Looks like they've done some renovations."

In front of the three teenagers was an enormous castle hovering about fifty feet above the ground. They had gotten enough sleep and food the night before, so this was not an illusion of fatigue, and they knew it.

"Awesome," whispered Sakura. "But it looks sort of familiar."

"Indeed," Yami smiled. "It's the Castle of Dark Illusions." TK took a closer look and realized his companion was right. It _was_ the same castle.

"That Game Card must've figured out the game of Duel Monsters," Sakura concluded. "This isn't going to be an easy fight, you guys. We're going to need to outplay the ultimate winner."

"We'll need to believe in the Heart of the Cards for us to win," sighed Yami Yugi. "I pray that will be enough."

TK was silent. He wanted to believe very strongly in the Heart of the Cards, but ever since he dueled Sakura, he wasn't so sure anymore.

"Hey guys, are you ready to fly?" asked Keroberos. "Pegasusmon and I have been waiting. We're going to have to fly to even get into the castle!" The three looked at each other and nodded. Yami quickly jumped on Keroberos, and TK mounted Pegasusmon. After Sakura summoned the fly card, the three friends flew into the entrance of the castle, only to realize that they forgot one detail: the Castle was heavily guarded by Digimon.

Keroberos did his best to blow away some of the attacking Digimon with his fire breath, and Pegasusmon fired his Star Shower many times to stun several of the guards. However, it was Sakura who dealt the finishing blow to the guards. After the three landed, Sakura quickly released the Power Card and slammed the wand into the nearby wall, causing the wall _and_ ceiling to collapse, crushing some guards and blocking others from getting through.

"Nice one," TK complimented her. Sakura only smiled.

"I guess we'll just have to figure out how to get out later," chuckled Yami Yugi. "Chances are that we're not even getting out."

"Thanks for the really positive attitude, Yugi," TK said sarcastically.

Yami smiled sheepishly and lead the three companions down the corridor, the only place for them to go. They finally reached a large iron door, and with all of their added strength, were able to open it. It lead the three teenagers into a large, dark room. All was quiet, until Keroberos and Pegasusmon's screams were heard. A spot light turned on and focused on the three duelists. TK and Sakura turned their heads around the room, trying to see where their friends were taken.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" an eerie, high-pitched voice sounded. Two cages lit up above the three. One contained Kero and the other contained Patamon.

"What have you done to them?" demanded Yami.

"They are not to interfere with our duel," another voice answered, this one much deeper.

"Duel? You're the ones holding Kari! Show yourself!" TK shouted angrily. "Face us, you creeps!"

"Very well then," the high pitched voice answered.

"I will go first," the lower voice boomed. It revealed itself as the Dark Magician. TK remembered him all too well. This Dark Magician was clad in pitch black, and he had the most evil looking yellow eyes.

Suddenly, TK realized something. "You can talk?!"

"Well, if all he said was 'Duel' then he wouldn't be much _fun,_ now would he?"

"That voice," whispered TK. "Can it be?"

A figure floated down, yellow boots, green pants, red shirt, and the black and white mask. "PIEDMON!" cried TK. "But we defeated you! Seven years ago!"

Piedmon looked confused. "Defeated me? Do I know you?" Piedmon stared harder. "Ah! The little one! My, my, look who's all grown up! Yes I was defeated, but now, thanks to the Game Card, I'm revived! Enough Chit Chat. Time for our Duel!"

"Our Duel?" asked Sakura. "Wait, you want this to be a two on two duel?"

"Three on three," the Dark Magician corrected.

"I don't understand," Yugi told him. "Who's your third teammate?"

"Oh, how silly of us? We forgot to reveal our final duelist!" laughed Piedmon. He clapped his hands twice as if summoning a servant. The room finally lit up. The room was solid blue rock. Iron doors stood behind TK and co. and behind Piedmon and co. TK, Yugi, and Sakura were standing on a large circular floating platform in the center of a deep abyss. Stone bridges connected the doors to the central platform. Around the central circle were six smaller floating platforms, each equipped with its own dueling platform like at Kaiba Land and Duelist Kingdom. Three were red and the other three were blue. On the wall, about 30 feet above the central platform were five other cages, not including the two that Kero and Patamon were held.

The door opposite of the entrance suddenly swung open, revealing a figure engulfed in the light of the outside. The figure walked toward the three duelists. As the figure crossed the stone bridge, both began to crumble, leaving no escape from this room.

"Meet the third member of our troupe," Piedmon chuckled. "I'm sure you'll recognize her, little one." As the door closed and the light was dimming out, the figure could be made clear. TK gasped at what he saw. The third duelist, the final member of the group he was fighting against was none other than…

"Kari…" TK whispered to himself.

* * *

I'll end it there. I can't believe it's already been a year and 2 months since I began this story. Don't expect any more updates next month. I'll be in China again for a few weeks. I know you guys want to find out what happens. I'm sorry. But I have to end it here, and the final duel will be played out at last when I get back in August, okay?

For those of you who want an update on the Tenken and the Pirate, I'll be sure to update as soon as I can.

Well, I hope you like my little twists and turns in this story, but I'm not sure how many of you predicted that Kari would be dueling. Oh well. R&R!


	17. Digital Duel: Part I: Monster Reborn

Crosstrigger's back! I'm glad I got so many reviews on this story! To taro-chosen92, I honestly don't know how many chapters are going to be in this story. Just know that this story will be longer than Digisword, which was 19 chapters long, and that means the final duel will be split up into several chapters. Also, I'm updating the Tenken and the Pirate soon, so to those of you who really want to find out what happens, don't fret.

Anyways, in this final duel, Yugi's deck is going to sort of combine his Battle City deck with his Duelist Kingdom one. At this point, Yugi's still developing his new deck to compete in Battle City.

Well, let the final duel commence! Chapter 17 of King of Games!

* * *

**King of Games**

_Chapter 17_

Sitting in a hotel room because it was raining was extremely boring. It was the sixth day since Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Téa, Li, Madison, and Sakura arrived in Odaiba. In that short time period, Yugi took TK and Sakura to Domino City, the rest of the group went sightseeing and met up with Meilin, Heighton View Terrace had been attacked by an army of monsters, TK, Sakura, and Yugi flew through a hole in the sky, Meilin was injured, and every secret the three groups had worked hard to keep had been revealed. And now, they were rained in. The forecast even predicted hail. How this happened in the summertime, no one knew. Currently, the Chosen Children, the Card Captors, and the Duelists were bored out of their minds.

"Hey I got an email from Gennai," exclaimed Izzy. Everyone gathered around and read it.

**Dear Digidestined,**

**TK and two others had flown into the floating castle I told you**

**about. I really don't know what's going on but I assume that**

**you have some clue. Anyways, if you want to see what TK is**

**up to right now, don't worry. In the past couple of years, I've**

**developed a sort of 'Big Brother' system that can show you**

**what is happening at any designated set of coordinates in the Digital**

**World. I've pointed the coordinates to the center of the Castle,**

**considering that's where the bad guys always are in their hideout.**

**Well, putting that aside, click on the camera icon to see what's**

**going on in the Inner Sanctum, and see what TK's doing.**

**Gennai**

"Prodigous!" Izzy exclaimed. "He developed a system like _that?!_"

"I agree," Ken nodded. "To pinpoint the camera-like system at any set of coordinates in the Digital World is ingenious."

"It would sure be helpful in tracking evil digimon, but we can't misuse it," Cody warned.

"Yeah, otherwise it'll be like 1984," said Sora.

"What happened in 1984?" Joey and Davis asked at the same time.

"She meant the novel, you idiots," Meilin sighed.

"George Orwell wrote it in the forties, talking about a totalitarian system of government," Li continued. "All people were forced to follow under the system Big Brother, which is a network of cameras that could see everything that everyone was doing."

"So if we abuse the system, or we could end up ruling over the Digital World with an Iron Fist," Ken concluded with a voice full of remorse. The Digidestined remained silent. Ken would always regret his actions as the Digimon Emperor. But there was nothing he could do to change that. Yolei was the one to break the silence.

"Forget about misusing the system!" cried Yolei. "Fire it up so we can see what's going on with TK!"

"After this, we need to get Gennai to destroy it," said Izzy. "It's too dangerous. If it got into the wrong hands, who knows what would happen."

"Listen, I know that your worried about someone getting their grimy hands on this Big Brother thing," said Téa, "but I really want to know how Yugi's doing."

"Sakura too," Li sighed.

"And don't forget TK," Matt pointed out. "Alright, Izzy, click away."

"Okay, here goes," Izzy clicked the icon. After his trusty pineapple laptop froze for a couple of seconds, a video appeared on the screen, sort of like how the battle on the Internet appeared all over the world. Only, this video was in the Digital World, and both groups saw their three friends, and three other beings.

"Hey, that's Piedmon!" Mimi pointed out.

"And that's the Dark Magician," gasped Téa. "What are they doing with those three?"

"Hey, who's the pretty girl?" asked Joey.

Tai stared closer at the screen. "Hey," he whispered. "Is that…?"

* * *

"Kari?" asked TK. "Is that you?"

"I am in body," said Kari in the most monotonous tone TK had ever heard her talk. "But her soul is locked away until the Game Card is defeated." TK took a step back. This person _was_ Kari, but yet, she wasn't.

"Let me explain to you, Child of Hope, how the Game Card arrived in the Digital World," Kari continued. "I am sure that you three are curious."

_Flashback_

"What's going on?!"  
  
The computer began to smoke.  
  
"cough Hey, cough what's happening?!"  
  
"I don't know," Gansley answered, staring. The computer screen began to blur and then swirl. Right then, the machine exploded.

_Kaiba Corporation had developed a Game Program that simulated duel monsters. I contained a database of cards connected to Industrial Illusions' computer network, so every Duel Monsters card ever created was in that Program. However, the Program still needed a deck to duel with, and the Big 5, as the Kaiba Corporation Executives were called, had composed a test deck. Unknown to them, though, One extra card had slipped into their deck. That was the Game Card._

"Where am I?" a lone figure slowly opened his eyes and found himself in a deep forest. "Wait…am I…in control of my body? Hold on…I have a body? And a mind?"

'Not quite,' a voice in his head spoke up.

"Who are you?" asked the figure.

'I'm a magic being. And I gave you a body and a mind so I can play with you!'

"I'm a computer program, just finished by Kaiba Corporation."

'And you are one of my vessels. Call me the Game Card.'

_The computer program developed by Kaiba Corp had become alive, thanks to the magic of the Game Card. You see, for the Game Card to actually play a game, it needs a vessel first. And, because it had a childish spirit, it wanted more playmates. The program's body became the first card the Game Card recognized: the Dark Magician. However, before long, the card made a fatal mistake. It resurrected the most playful looking Digimon, at least to it. Piedmon._

"Stop!" cried an Elecmon.

"No! He'll destroy us!" shouted Gotsumon. "Please stop!"

The Dark Magician continued to gather Piedmon's data, and the former Dark Master was coming back into existence, starting from his shoes going on up to the face that struck fear into the hearts of Digimon all over. Until finally, the resurrection was complete.

"I'm free!" Piedmon shouted joyfully. "Oh dear me, how long has it been since I was destroyed by those little brats?" He threw a Dagger at a nearby Pumpkinmon, catching its cloak and pinning it to a tree. "Hello, you. How long has it been since Spiral Mountain was destroyed? Please tell your good friend Piedmon and I might let you go."

"Please Piedmon, sir," Pumpkinmon stammered. "If you promise not to hurt me, I'll tell you." Piedmon nodded, grinning that extremely creepy grin that only a clown could possess. "It's been seven years, Mr. Piedmon sir. Now, can you please let me go?"

"I'll let you go, and don't worry, I won't hurt you," Piedmon chuckled as he pulled out the dagger. Pumpkinmon was about to run off when Piedmon threw the dagger at the Digimon, destroying him instantly.

"That didn't hurt at all, did it?" laughed Piedmon.

_Piedmon was evil, and the Game Card had no way of knowing that. And by possessing Piedmon, his evil spread through the Clow Card like a virus, and thus, it became evil as well, and the Dark Magician program, once clad in dark purple, was now cloaked in pitch black. However, Piedmon was still possessed, and therefore he was still bounded strictly to the rules of the Game Card._

_End Flashback_

"So you see, we three now duel under the spell of the Game Card," said Kari. "And because of the large database of cards from Kaiba Corporation's program, we were able to construct decks of our own, following the rules of Duel Monsters."

"So that's it," Yugi growled. "You're just going to possess every being in the Digital World, and when that's over, you're going to go after the Real World, aren't you?"

"Because of the Digital Rift that was opened 12 years ago," Piedmon smirked, "when Greymon and Parrotmon were sent to the Real World, we are now able to gain access to both Worlds. And that rift is something not even your Digivices can control!"

"Enough talk," Sakura pulled out her deck from her belt. TK and Yugi followed suit.

"Let's Duel," said TK.

The duelists headed over to the floating dueling platforms at the edge of the central area. As the last step was off the circular center, two rows of card slots appeared around the perimeter. There were 60 in all: 2 rows of 5 for each duelist. TK, Sakura, and Yugi were on the Blue dueling platforms, and Kari, Piedmon, and the Dark Magician were on the red ones.

"The rules of this duel are simple," explained the Dark Magician. "First, Each team shares a graveyard, so even if one teammate is eliminated, their cards remain in the graveyard pile. Both teams have a graveyard platform that will float to them if one or more of their cards are sent there. Second, there is the so-called cross-blocking method, where one teammate's monster takes the hit from a stronger monster to prevent another teammate's monster from being destroyed. However, this can only be accomplished if the monster attacking is _stronger_ than the monster cross blocking, and _only_ if the cross blocking monster is in attack mode. So no Millenium Shields in Defense mode taking every hit. Third, you are allowed to use your teammate's monsters as tributes, whether they agree or disagree to it. Fourth, no one attacks until everyone has had his or her first turn. Finally, when a duelist is eliminated, the platform will float the said Duelist into one of the cages you see above you. If you are eliminated, you're stuck in that cage until the duel is over. When the Duel is finished, every cage will open, and depending upon the team, the loss will be different. If you win, you get the Game Card and we'll let you get out, and we'll release possession of Kari. If you lose, Sakura must release all of her Clow Cards, TK will join us, and we'll take Yugi's Puzzle. Oh, and you will be trapped in this room for eternity."

"Why do you want the Puzzle?" asked Yugi.

"We'll explain later," Kari, Piedmon, and the Dark Magician all said at the same time.

"Those are some high stakes," muttered Sakura.

"If you don't want to play, then you forfeit and we win," laughed Piedmon.

"We have no choice, then," sighed TK. Yugi and Sakura nodded. TK looked at Kari. 'Why does it have to be this way? I can't duel Kari…but I have to. For everyone's sake.'

"Let's DUEL!" shouted everyone.

**Piedmon: 4000 – Kari: 4000 – Dark Magician: 4000**

**TK: 4000 – Sakura: 4000 – Yugi: 4000**

"I'll start," said Yugi. "By summoning Celtic Guardian in Attack Mode!"

**Celtic Guardian – ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200**

"And I'll place one card face-down in Defense Mode. Your move, Piedmon."

Piedmon drew. "I'll begin by using the magic card Polymerization to fuse together my two monsters in my hand, Crass Clown and Dream Clown," the digimon laughed. "To summon the wonderfully cheerful Bickuribox!"

**Bickuribox – ATK: 2300/DEF: 2000**

"Since Fusion Monsters can't attack for one turn, and we can't attack anyway, let's leave it at that, shall we?"

'Great,' thought Sakura. 'He's got a powerful monster on the field already! That thing can easily destroy any monster we put down. Well, let's hope that Yugi can do something about it. He's going to be the first to attack.'

Sakura drew. 'Shoot! I only have one monster in my hand! Oh well, my only hope is to back it up with Trap Cards. This is the easiest monster in the game to get rid of.'

"I summon Spirit of the Breeze in Attack mode!" shouted Sakura.

**Spirit of the Breeze – ATK: 0/DEF: 1800**

"And I'll lay two cards face-down on the field to end my turn," said Sakura.

The Dark Magician was next. "I'll summon Goddess of Whim in attack mode," he said.

**Goddess of Whim – ATK: 950/DEF: 700**

"I'll lay one card face-down to end my turn."

'Alright, this is it,' thought TK. 'This is going to be hard. They really struck low this time, having Kari duel. I just have to draw and go with it.'

TK drew. "Neo the Magic Swordsman in Attack Mode!"

**Neo the Magic Swordsman – ATK: 1700/DEF: 1000**

"I'll lay two cards face-down to end my turn."

Now it was Kari's turn. "First I'll summon Archfiend Soldier in Attack Mode!"

**Archfiend Soldier – ATK: 1900/ DEF: 1500**

"Then I'll use the field magic card Mystic Plasma Zone." The card spread darkness over the field. Ominous clouds swirled around like a hurricane, with the complimentary lightning and thunder. "Dark Plasma is in the atmosphere of the field now powering up the attack of all Dark Monsters by 500 points and lowering their defense by 400."

"This is bad," whispered TK. "The most powerful monsters in my deck have an attribute of Light. Now their dark monsters are going to be more powerful than my creatures of light!"

"I don't have very many dark monsters in my deck either," Sakura realized.

"Don't worry," Yugi stated. "My deck is full of creatures of Darkness. I can back you up easily."

**Celtic Guardian – ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200**

**Bickuribox – ATK: 2800/DEF: 1600**

**Spirit of the Breeze – ATK: 0/DEF: 1800**

**Goddess of Whim – ATK: 950/DEF: 700**

**Neo the Magic Swordsman – ATK: 1700/DEF: 1000**

**Archfiend Soldier – ATK: 2400/DEF: 1100**

"That will end my turn," said Kari.

"I can't believe Kari's dueling," sighed Sora.

"They really struck low," muttered Davis. "We all know how TS feels about her. There's no way he'll be able to duel to his full potential."

"Jeez, those are some pretty slick monsters," Joey commented. "I think Yugi might actually have a hard time."

"With the Game Card on their side, that's a given," Li growled. "No matter how good they've gotten, the Game Card is the Ultimate Winner."

"They're playing for really high stakes too," Tristan added.

"My thoughts exactly," Izzy told them. "From what you've told me about the Millenium Puzzle and the Clow Cards, I don't think that losing will be a good idea. Plus, if Kari _and _TK were to be kidnapped, the Digital World would be doomed for sure!"

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Meilin.

"All we can do is watch," sighed Téa. 'Yugi, for all our sakes, don't lose. I don't think TK and Sakura will be able to win without you.'

* * *

I'll let the Chapter end here. I know that they all only just made their first moves. But I just got back from China. Major jet lag. Writing this at 2 in the morning…Yeah.

Anyway, I'm hoping to split this Duel into 4 or 5 chapters. I know you all hate cliffies, but I seriously don't have much time now. School's about to start, I'm going to take SATs, and my schedule is filled to the top.

One more thing. The God Cards are not in this story, because Pegasus eliminated them from the computer database where Kaiba Corporation's game program got its cards from. They were too powerful.

Well, until the final Duel continues, review!


	18. Digital Duel: Part II: Stop Defense

**King of Games**

_Chapter 17 _

**Celtic Guardian – ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200**

**Bickuribox – ATK: 2800/DEF: 1600**

**Spirit of the Breeze – ATK: 0/DEF: 1800**

**Goddess of Whim – ATK: 950/DEF: 700**

**Neo the Magic Swordsman – ATK: 1700/DEF: 1000**

**Archfiend Soldier – ATK: 2400/DEF: 1100**

"That will end my turn," said Kari.

"There goes the first turn," muttered TK. "And so far their attack power is much stronger than ours. Winning this isn't going to be easy."

"We knew that from the beginning," Sakura told him. "But we have to."

"That's right," Yugi smirked. "Now, it's my turn again." He drew.

'Yugi, you better draw a good monster,' thought Sakura. 'Piedmon's next, and he'll definitely be attacking me! I'll be down to 1200 life points if he manages to destroy my trap cards, and if he gets another monster with an attack higher than that, I'm finished!'

'You're the only one with a good number of Dark Monsters in your deck, Yugi,' thought TK. 'You'd better draw a powerful one. All we need is a dark monster with attack points higher than 2300.'

"I'll set a monster in defense mode," said Yugi. "And lay one card face-down to end my turn."****

"WHAT?!" gasped TK and Sakura.

"Yugi! Don't play for your own defense! We need you!" cried TK. "Sakura's going to be defeated if you don't destroy that Bickuribox!"

"I apologize, TK, but that is the only move I can make," sighed Yugi.

"It…can't be…" whispered Sakura. "Yugi, you were my only hope…"

"Well isn't this touching?" snickered Piedmon. "Sorry, little girl, but it looks like _I'll_ be taking you out of _this_ duel on just the second turn!" He drew a card. "I'm summoning Mystic Clown in Attack Mode! Within Mystic Plasma Zone, this cheerful Creature is powered up!"

**Mystic Clown – ATK: 2000/DEF: 600 **

"And I'll play the spell card Anti-Magic Arrows to destroy your two trap cards!"

'No! My only line of defense!' Sakura thought angrily. 'My Spirit of the Breeze has no attack points. He might as well be attacking me directly! Yugi, why couldn't you have destroyed that Bickuribox?! Now with the two monsters' combined attack strength, I'll be out of this game on turn two!'

"Bickuribox, Attack her Spirit of the Breeze!" commanded Piedmon.

Sakura closed her eyes, thinking that she was going to be struck out of this duel, but Yugi suddenly had that smirk on his face when his plan comes through.

"Did you really think I'd leave her _that _open, Piedmon?" he chuckled. "Reveal Magic card, Multiply! This card allows me to create multiple copies of my facedown monster, Kuriboh! With this combo, my Kuriboh are multiplying faster than you can eliminate them, forming a sort of wall that can protect all three of us." Several hundred Kuriboh appeared and crossed over into TK and Sakura's section of the field.

**Kuriboh - ATK: 300/DEF: 200**

"Isn't that cross blocking?!" Piedmon asked nervously. "You can't cross-block with a defense creature!"

"It's not cross blocking," said Kari. "The Kuriboh are filling up their side of the field, and as a result we are forced to attack them. That Yugi Motou is obviously the best duelist of the three. It is no wonder he is the King of Games."

"He must be the first to be dealt with," the Dark Magician concluded.

"Bickuribox can destroy _one_ Kuriboh, Piedmon, but to reach our life points, you're going to need to deal with _all _of them," Yugi smirked.

"You'll pay for that, Yugi Motou," grumbled Piedmon. "It's your move, little girl."

"Thanks a lot Yugi," Sakura told him. Yugi just smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. "Alright, now since Spirit of the Breeze is still in attack Mode, I gain 1000 Life points this turn."

**Sakura: 5000 **

She drew. "I'll lay one card facedown to end my turn."

'She still has no other monsters,' thought TK. 'No matter, Yugi's defense line should be much more than enough for now. And hopefully by the time those Kuriboh are finished, we'll be ready to attack.'

"I'm summoning Witch of the Black Forest in Attack mode," said the Dark Magician.

**Witch of the Black Forest – ATK: 1600/DEF: 800 **

"That will end my turn," he finished.

'That guy has yet to summon a powerful monster,' thought TK. 'I don't understand. His cards must work together in some way, but how?'

TK drew. "I'm summoning Shining Angel in Attack mode and ending my turn!"

**Shining Angel – ATK: 1400/DEF: 800 **

"What a pitiful monster you have there, Child of Hope," laughed Kari. "Let me show you a truly terrifying creature! I summon Vilepawn Archfiend in Attack mode!"

**Vilepawn Archfiend – ATK: 1200/DEF: 200 **

"Tell me, Child of Hope, have you ever played the game of chess?" Kari asked.

"I have," TK answered, remembering when he and Kari worked together to finally checkmate Ken after three hours.

"The pawn is a typical first move in the game," smirked Kari. "Because it is the foot soldier. The one who charges into battle first and allows the other more sophisticated warriors to attack. So, listen well, TK. This Vilepawn Archfiend is only the beginning. If it is destroyed, I have no use for it anyway. The other pieces are still with me!"

"Kari…" TK was beginning to see red. How dare they take control of her like that! How dare they hurt his best friend! How _dare_ they prevent him from revealing his feelings for her!

"TK, I sense anger in your mind," Yugi stated calmly. "Don't be so angry. Our duel is still on. You need to focus. Anyway, it's my move." Yugi drew his next card.

"Well, this will really make you feel intimidated. I'll sacrifice my Celtic Guardian to summon the powerful Summoned Skull!"

**Summoned Skull – ATK: 2500/DEF: 1200 **

"And thanks to your Mystic Plasma Zone, he becomes even _more_ powerful!"

**Summoned Skull – ATK: 3000/DEF: 800 **

"This time, Piedmon, your Bickuribox won't even have the chance to attack," smirked Yugi. "Summoned Skull, Lightning Strike!" The powerful dark fiend fired several thousand volts of electricity into Piedmon's jack-in-the-box, destroying the evil toy instantly.

"How's that?" Yugi smiled. "I now possess the most powerful monster on the field, and there's nothing you can do to stop his power."

**Piedmon: 3800 **

"It's your move, Piedmon," said Yugi. "I suggest you make it quick so we may end this duel sooner."

'Damn that King of Games,' Piedmon thought angrily. 'His deck can complement with _ours_! Looks like we'll have to get rid of him, but with those Kuriboh and that Summoned Skull, we can't even touch him!'

Piedmon drew his next card. "Okay then, I'll summon Clown Zombie in attack mode and end my turn."

**Clown Zombie – ATK: 2100/DEF: 0 **

'Why do they have to be clowns?!' TK thought angrily. 'I _hate_ clowns!'

Sakura drew a card. "I gain another 1000 Life points," she announced.

**Sakura: 6000 **

"I'll pass this turn."

It was the Dark Magician's turn. "This card will turn this entire Game around. I'll summon the mystical Time Wizard!"

**Time Wizard – ATK: 500/DEF: 400 **

"Time Wizard?!" Yugi gasped. "If that card resolves completely, _all_ of our monsters will be thrown into a time warp, leaving us open for a direct attack!"

"This is _not_ good," growled TK. "If that thing works, all our Kuriboh will be gone!"

"We'll lose our final line of Defense," gasped Sakura.

"Go, Time Roulette," stated the Dark Magician. The Time Wizard's spinner began.

'Come on, skull,' thought Yugi. 'Land on Skull…'

'This will work,' smirked Kari. 'There is no way it can't.'

The roulette was still going…Skull…Warp…Skull…WARP!

Time Wizard began using its magic to speed up the time on the playing field until a millennium passed. All the Kuriboh fell ill from age, and every monster on Yugi, Sakura, and TK's side of the field were destroyed.

"I didn't expect that to actually work," whispered Sakura.

"Now all three of us are open to a direct attack," grumbled TK. "This is not good at all."

"My defense line failed," muttered Yugi.

"That it did," smirked the Dark Magician. "Now, I'll use my Goddess of Whim's special ability." A spinner, one half red and one half blue, appeared in the Goddess' hands. "Goddess will activate the spinner. If the spinner lands on blue, her attack power is doubled. If it lands on red, it is halved." The spinner began…and landed on blue.

**Goddess of Whim – ATK: 1900/DEF: 700 **

"Goddess of Whim, Witch of the Black Forest, and Time Wizard, attack Yugi!"

"What?!" gasped Yugi, as the three monsters began to advance on him.

"All three, attack him!"

"I'm not going out that easily. Reveal trap card, Mirror Force!"

A protective barrier formed around Yugi, and as the monsters tried to lower Yugi's Life Points, they were all blown back and destroyed, as well as every other monster on the opponent's side of the field.

"Because Witch of the Black Forest was destroyed, I am allowed to bring a monster from my deck with less than 1500 ATK points. That will end my turn," said the Dark Magician.

'At least that Mirror Force cleared _their_ side of the field as well. We were really lucky…' Sakura suddenly realized something. "Luck…"

"What?" asked Yugi and TK.

"That's how the Game Card is the ultimate winner," she told them. "It's able to manipulate luck. The Dark Magician's last two moves, the Time Wizard and Goddess of Whim, based themselves solely on luck. The Game Card's luck is _always_ good."

"Luck and Skill are the two things that are essential to winning in almost every game that exists, including Duel Monsters!" TK finished.

"I should've known that dueling a Clow Card was going to be different from a regular duel," growled Sakura. "But we still need to win."

"In this game, we've got something that will counter their good luck," smiled Yugi. "We've got the Heart of the Cards."

'The Heart of the Cards?' thought TK as he drew his next card. 'No…there's no such thing. If there was…I would've won that tournament. We're dueling on skill and skill alone.'

"I'm summoning Maha Vailo in Attack Mode!"

**Maha Vailo – ATK: 1550/DEF: 1400**

'Attack Mode?' wondered Sakura. 'TK, what are you thinking? Their monsters will destroy yours!'

"Now I'm equipping my monster with my Elf's Light Magic card! It'll increase my monster's ATK by 400 points and decrease it by 200!"

**Maha Vailo – ATK: 1950/DEF: 1200 **

"And since it's now equipped, Maha Vailo's special ability kicks in! It increases her ATK power by 500 for every Equip Magic Card on it!"

**Maha Vailo – ATK: 2450/DEF: 1200 **

'Now that I have the only monster on the field, I can attack someone. But I'm too nervous to attack Kari. So I'll have to aim for the one who I want out of this duel most.'

"Maha Vailo, attack Piedmon! Mystic Lightning!"

**Piedmon: 1350 **

"That was not very fun," muttered Piedmon.

"That will end my turn," TK finished.

It was Kari's move. "I'm summoning my Shadowknight Archfiend in Attack Mode," she announced.

**Shadowknight Archfiend – ATK: 2000/DEF: 1600**

"2000 attack for a 4-star monster is pretty high," commented Sakura.

"Don't worry," Yugi told her. "The Attack it deals to its opponents is halved because of its drawback ability."

"That's good to know," sighed TK. "So, its attack power only works on our monsters, right?"

"Precisely," said Kari. "But I can still deal you some damage. After I place a card face-down, I'll attack Yugi! Go take down his Life Points, my Knight!"

**Yugi: 3000**

"Direct attacks are the essence of our fight now," muttered Yugi. "At least I can take Piedmon down in one turn now. His Life Points are defenseless."

He drew his next card. "I'll play Pot of Greed to draw Two Cards." After drawing, Yugi smirked. 'Yes, this will be a fantastic combo. Let's see if we can pull it off.'

"I'll summon Berfomet, in Attack mode!"

**Berfomet – ATK: 1400/DEF: 1800 **

"Summoning Befomet allows me to summon Gazelle, King of Mythical Beasts to the field as well." Gazelle, King of Mythical Beasts – ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200

"And now, by fusing my two monsters with the power of Polymerization, I now present the mighty Chimera, the Flying Mythical Beast!"

"I've never seen that monster combo from your deck, Yugi," commented TK.

"I'm updating the deck for the Battle City Tournament," smiled Yugi. "This is one monster that I think will come in handy some time."

**Chimera, the Flying Mythical Beast – ATK: 2100/DEF: 1800 **

"Now, Chimera, go! Attack Piedmon's Life Points directly!"

"Agh! I'm going to lose!" cried Piedmon.

"Shadowknight, protect him," Kari commanded.

The Shadowknight Archfiend jumped in, intercepting Chimera's attack, being destroyed in the process.

**Kari: 3900 **

"Why end his stay in this duel so soon, Yugi? We're still only getting started."

'I forgot that she could cross block Chimera because the Shadowknight's attack was weaker than 2100,' Yugi thought angrily. 'Now Piedmon will have another chance to come back at us! I should've saved the Polymerization for later!'

"Well, this is a fateful turn of events," snickered Piedmon. "Your plan was thwarted, Yugi, and it all could have been over had you not combined your monsters! Do you not see how combined efforts will fail? Even if all of you came at each of us, you'll still lose!"

"Wasn't Kari blocking the attack for you an act of teamwork?" asked Sakura.

"I blocked for my own benefit," Kari told her. "If Piedmon is out of the match, then I will be one who suffers from the joint attack. Besides, my Shadowknight was not that wonderful a card in the first place."

Piedmon drew his next card. "I'll use _my _Pot of Greed now," he smirked. "Greed is one of the ideals that the Dark Masters thrived off of, you know? Now, I'm going to use Hamburger Recipe! I'm sacrificing my Ryu-kishin Clown and Parrot Dragon from my hand to perform the Ritual." A spatula appeared on the field and appeared to be flipping a hamburger patty. "Meet Hungry Burger!" The Patty stopped flipping and a bun, some lettuce and tomatoes appeared. The bun opened to reveal teeth, and the beef, the lettuce, and the tomatoes jumped in, forming a tasty looking Hamburger, who was lashing its jaws everywhere.

The three duelists sweatdropped.

"This will be a new experience," Sakura commented.

"I'm utterly speechless," said Yugi.

"That has to be one of the most embarrassing ways to die," said TK. "Being eaten by junk food."

**Hungry Burger – ATK: 2500/DEF: 1450 **

"Go Hungry Burger, attack Chimera! Have yourself a tasty snack!" The hamburger leapt onto the mythical beast.

"Not so fast, Piedmon! I'm activating Negate Attack to skip your Battle Phase."

"Why won't you stop using your trap cards and face me like you should?!" demanded Piedmon. "My turn is over."****

Sakura drew her next card. "I'll use Graceful Charity to draw 3 cards and discard 2. Now, I'm going to remove the 7 colored fish I just discarded to summon Aqua Spirit, in attack mode!"

**Aqua Spirit – ATK: 1600/DEF: 1200 **

"That will end my turn," the Card Captor finished.

The Dark Magician drew his next card. "I'm now summoning Sangan in Attack Mode."

**Sangan – ATK: 1500/DEF: 1000 **

"It's your move, Child of Hope."

TK drew his next card. "I'm summoning Dunames Dark Witch in Attack Mode!"

**Dunames Dark Witch – ATK: 1800/DEF: 1050**

"I'll end my turn there," TK finished.

"I'll start by using Graceful Charity, like Sakura did, to draw 3 cards and discard 2. Now, I'm going to summon my Infernalqueen Archfiend to the field!"

**Infernalqueen Archfiend – ATK: 900/DEF: 1500**

"Now, I'll use my face-down card, Archfiend's Roar! I'll use it to resurrect the monster that I had discarded using Graceful Charity! The mighty and powerful Terrorking Archfiend!"

**Terrorking Archfiend – ATK: 2000/DEF: 1500 **

"I will end my turn here," said Kari. "Yugi Motou, it's your move."

Yugi drew a card. "Okay, I'm going to use the magic card De-Fusion to separate my Chimera back to what it was, Berfomet and Gazelle. Now, I'm sacrificing them both to summon my rarest monster, the Dark Magician!"

**Dark Magician – ATK: 2500/DEF: 2100 **

"And thanks to the Mystic Plasma Zone, my magician gets a power-up of 500 attack points!"

**Dark Magician – ATK: 3000/DEF: 1700 **

"Now, I'm going to utilize the magic of Brain control to take that Hungry Burger off of your hands, Piedmon," smirked Yugi. "Your monster, or should I say food, belongs to me now!"

"WHAT?!" cried Piedmon.

**Hungry Burger – ATK: 2500/DEF: 1450 **

"Well, my royal archfiends are too much of a waste to cross block at this point," chuckled Kari.

"You'd be destroyed anyway if _I _cross blocked," the Dark Magician added.

"You're sunk, Piedmon," laughed TK. "You have nothing now! No hand, no traps, no monsters…you're wide open for an attack!"

"Yes, and I think Yugi's got the perfect way to take you down," laughed Sakura.

"Indeed I do," chuckled Yugi. "As TK said, being killed by junk food _is_ one of the most embarrassing ways to die, so why don't we utilize that fact? Hungry Burger, go eat some of Piedmon's Life Points." The sandwich was more than happy to oblige as it bounced toward its master.

"No! It can't end this way!" he cried.

"It is," laughed TK.

"This should be entertaining," giggled Sakura.

"It's the final act for this clown," smirked Yugi. "Good-bye."

The hamburger lunged at Piedmon, literally chewing him out and depleting the rest of his life points.

"Agh! No! Go away!" cried the Digimon as the Burger sank its teeth into him.

"Yes!" cheered the three duelists.

**Piedmon: 0 **

As his life points disappeared, so did the possessed hamburger. The platform he was standing on floated up to one of the cages, threw him in, and locked the door. Yes, those platforms were certainly magical.

"Well, this isn't fun at all," muttered the Dark Master. "Just wait until I get out of here so we can have some _real_ playtime."

"Until then, it's time-out for you!" Yugi shouted. "And no snacks until you think about what you've done!"

**DM: 4000 – Kari: 3900**

**Yugi: 3000 – Sakura: 6000 – TK: 4000**

* * *

"That _had_ to suck," said Joey, who was cracking up. Well, who wouldn't? Seeing a toothy hamburger chew on a clown is enough to make anyone laugh.

"Whoa, Yugi's playing babysitter, and it looks like junior's been a bad boy," laughed Tai.

"At least one of the three are out of the match," commented Davis. "Now the three of them just have to deal with those two."

"Well, they dealt with one, didn't they?" asked Matt. "How hard could the others be?"

"They defeated the clown," answered Li. "In a very amusing way, I might add. But now they have to face the two more competent duelists."

"That's right," said Ken. "They're still up against the Game Program and the girl who one of them loves. It'll still be a challenge."

"This is going to be hard on them," concluded Izzy. "I just hope they make it. There's still a lot at stake."

* * *

I'll end the chapter there. Well, Piedmon's gone, and that's some strain off of the author. Yeah, it's actually pretty tiring trying to keep track of six duelists all going at the same time. Next chapter will be more dueling as well as some talk about the origin of the Game Card.

If you hadn't already guessed, Piedmon's deck was basically a bunch of clowns and cartoon monsters, and one sort of funny monster that actually made me hungry. But, I hope it was a little bit entertaining to read about the burger and its master.

And all of you can plainly see that Kari's deck is pure evil. I remember _someone _requesting a fiend/demon deck in his or her review a while back. Well, voila! Kari is dueling with the Archfiends, some of the most fun monsters to play with. But, no need for Pandemonium until she actually lasts a full round with her archfiends intact.

Well, the duel is still on! There are probably going to be 3 more chapters concerning the duel, and one or two chapters after that. I'm hoping to finish this by December. Until then, review!


	19. Digital Duel: Part III: Dark Hole

**King of Games**  
_Chapter 18_

"Well, despite my defeating Piedmon, it's still my Battle Phase," said Yugi. "Dark Magician! Attack Sangan! Dark Magic Attack!"

**DM: 2500**

The Black Dark Magician wasn't fazed at all by the attack on his life points. "I'll look for a monster with Attack points Lower than 1000 thanks to Sangan's Triggered Ability."

"Now, since Piedmon's gone, it's my turn," said Sakura, drawing her next card. 'Alright! Another one of my cards that represent the elementals!'

"Lady Panther, in Attack Mode!"

(A/N: I was going to put in 'Rock Spirit' as the Earthy card, but Rock Spirit is a guy, and the best female monsters, the Amazons, all should be together in one deck, so I'm left with Lady Panther as the representation of the Earthy card.)

**Lady Panther – ATK: 1400/DEF: 1300**

"Now, Lady Panther and Aqua Spirit, concentrate your attacks and take down the last of the Black Dark Magician's Life Points!"

**Aqua Spirit – ATK: 1600/DEF: 1200**

Both attacks hit head on, but after the smoke cleared, the three duelists were astonished to see the Dark Magician still standing there!

"But how-?" Sakura began.

"The card I searched for with Sangan's ability was my own Kuriboh," the Black Dark Magician explained. "And by discarding it, I was able to nullify one of your monsters' attack. And the card I chose to nullify was your Aqua Spirit."

Sakura growled. He had no cards on his side of the field. He wasn't supposed to be able to survive her last turn!

"I'll lay one card face-down and end my turn."

**DM: 1100**

"You were close to defeating me, Sakura. I commend you for that. However, being close is nowhere near actually being there. Now, I believe it's my move," said the Game Program as he drew a card. "I will play Graceful Charity to draw 3 cards and discard two. Now, I will summon Mystic Tomato in Attack Mode."

**Mystic Tomato – ATK: 1400/DEF: 1100**

"Now, my tomato's attack power is increased thanks to Mystic Plasma Zone."

**Mystic Tomato – ATK: 1900/DEF: 1100**

"As tempting as it is to attack, I will have more to lose than to gain if I attacked, so I'll lay two cards face down and end my turn there."

"It's my turn," said TK as he drew his next card. "I'll summon my second Shining Angel in Attack Mode."

**Shining Angel – ATK: 1400/DEF: 800**

"I'll end my turn there. Your move."

Kari drew her next card. "Now, at the beginning of my turn, I have to pay some of my life points for my Archfiend monsters."

**Kari: 2600**

"Also, my Infernalqueen Archfiend can power up one of my Archfiend monsters, and I choose my Terrorking Archfiend."

**Terrorking Archfiend – ATK: 3500/DEF: 1500**

"Now that he's so powerful, I'm going to attack Sakura's Aqua Spirit!"

"Not so fast, Kari," Sakura shouted. "Reveal trap card! Spellbinding Circle! This trap locks your Terrorking in place so he can't attack and you can't change his battle position!"

"Very well," Kari shrugged. "That will end my turn."

Yugi drew his next card. "Okay, I'll set Big Shield Gardna in Defense mode."

**Big Shield Gardna – ATK: 100/DEF: 2600**

"Since I still cannot attack Kari, I'll have my Magician attack Mystic Tomato!"

"I'll activate Magical Hats to counter your assault," the Dark Magician countered. "You'll have to find my tomato, but if you attack the wrong trap, some other surprise may be in store for you."

'That's my usual trick!' Yugi thought angrily. 'I fell into the trap I usually play to stall against _my _opponents!'

"How could Clow Reed have created such a powerful card?" Sakura muttered. "The Game Card has the ability to think on its own, manipulate luck, and put people under mind control! None of the other Clow Cards could come up with separate abilities like _that!_"

"You are curious as to how the Game Card came into existence?" asked Kari. "I suppose I have some time to explain the origin of the Game Card."

* * *

_Flashback _

"You have traveled far," a young man in a red cape was facing an older man. The scene was in a large stone room, where several Egyptian priests were facing a man from the Far East. He was clad in a black cloak.

"That I have," he answered. "I come to see if the tales of a mighty ruler of the desert are true. I come to see these rumored 'Shadow Games' that travelers have told about while I was in Asia."

"What makes you so interested?"

"I, too, am a magician. I wish to witness what sort of magic you use to summon these truly horrifying beasts that so many weary travelers struggled to escape from."

"You are a magician as well? Well, I would be honored if you would demonstrate some of your abilities after you witness our Shadow Games." Just then, the doors to the chamber burst open, and in came another priest and several guards armed with swords.

"There's the intruder! Restrain him!" he commanded. The guards began to advance on him. The man in the black cloak simply turned around and pulled out a deck of cards. He threw one on the floor and backed away slowly. The card began to slow and out came a young woman, clad in blue Asian clothing and two pig tails. (A/N: I don't know how to describe it!) "Fight Card, demonstrate to the pharaoh what sort of magic I possess."

The Fight Card leapt and kicked one of the guards, knocking the wind out of him, and then grabbed his arm and threw him into two other guards. She dodged one of the guards' sword, and uppercut his jaw. She then proceeded to punch another guard while kicking the last one. All six guards were left clutching their stomachs as the Fight reverted back into her card form. The cloaked magician slowly walked over to his card and picked it up.

"Your magic is quite powerful," the pharaoh commented. "Tell me, magician from the east, what is your name?" The man pulled the hood of his cloak back, revealing a handsome young Asian man.

"Clow Reed," he answered.

Soon after, the pharaoh showed Clow Reed to the temple where two young priests were summoning monsters. Clow Reed sat next to the pharaoh, watching intently as one priest finally defeated the other with a fierce dragon attack.

"These games live up to their legend, pharaoh," chuckled Clow. "I'm very impressed." The pharaoh smiled.

"I see we have impressed each other."

_ End Flashback_

* * *

"Clow Reed met the pharaoh?" asked Sakura. Kari nodded.

"It was a fated meeting. Clow Reed and the Pharaoh became friends and soon after the Eastern Magician created a card to honor the Shadow Games he witnessed. That card was the Game Card, but when Clow returned to Asia, the card grew out of control and began challenging everyone to games they could not win, so he hid it away from the other Clow Cards, and for thousands of years lay dormant. That is, until the pharoah's power was once again released. After Yugi solved the Millenium Puzzle, the card awakened. Soon, when it regained its former strength, the Game Card escaped into a deck of Duel Monsters cards, which was part of the test deck that the Big Five of Kaiba Corporation wanted to try out their game program with."

"Incredible," whispered Yugi. "Who thought all of us would have such closely knitted fates?"

"The reason why we want the Millenium Puzzle is so that the Game Card's ability becomes infinite," the Dark Magician continued for Kari. "If Clow Reed's and the pharoah's power was combined, there would be nothing that could stop us."

"That means we'll just have to stop you then," said TK. Sakura drew her next card.

"Fire Princess in Attack Mode!" Sakura announced.

**Fire Princess – ATK: 1300/DEF: 1500**

"I'll now play one card face down and end my turn."

The Dark Magician drew his next card. "I summon Baby Dragon in Defense Mode."

**Baby Dragon – ATK: 1200/DEF: 700**

"Now I play the Magic Card Stop Defense on Yugi's Big Shield Gardna!" Big Shield Gardna switched itself into Attack Mode.

"Mystic Tomato, reveal yourself and attack Big Shield Gardna!" commanded the Dark Magician. The tomato leapt out of its hat and attacked.

**Yugi: 1200**

"Yugi's almost lower on Life than the Game Program," TK whispered to himself.

"I'll set one card facedown and end my turn." TK drew his next card.

"I sacrifice Dunames Dark Witch and Shining Angel to summon Wingweaver!"

**Wingweaver – ATK: 2750/DEF: 2400**

"My Shining Angel's special ability is that when it gets sent to the graveyard as a tribute or in battle, I can summon a Light Monster with 1500 Attack Points or less from my deck, and I choose to summon Hoshiningen!"

**Hoshiningen – ATK: 500/DEF: 700**

"This monster the monster that will be the key to defeating you! Not only does it raise my Light monster's attack by 500, but also lowers your Dark Monster's attack by 400!"

**Hoshiningen – ATK: 1000/DEF: 700**

**Wingweaver – ATK: 3250/DEF: 2400**

**Maha Vailo – ATK: 2950/DEF: 1200**

**Mystic Tomato – ATK: 1500/DEF: 1100**

**Terrorking Archfiend – ATK: 3100/DEF: 1500**

** Dark Magician – ATK: 2600/DEF: 1700**

"This next attack will wipe out the rest of your Life Points, Magician! So brace yourself! Wingweaver, Attack that Mystic Tomato!" The six-winged angel flew into to attack the evil little plant, when the Dark Magician shouted:

"Spell of Pain!"

Everyone gasped. "That redirects the damage dealt to you to anyone you want…" gasped TK.

Sakura thought to herself. 'That means all that damage will go to the one he wants out most…'

Yugi stared wide-eyed as his Life Points went to 0. "I've been beaten?"

**Yugi: 0**

**

* * *

**  
Okay, I read over this chapter again and realized there were some mistakes in the duel, so I went back and changed some stuff. It was just some little things, so the gist of the duel remained the same. Yugi still lost. Keep those reviews coming! 


	20. Digital Duel: Part IV: Change of Heart

Apparently I lost some fans of this story in the time I didn't update. I didn't get nearly as many reviews on Chapter 18 as on Chapter 17. Man, that stinks. Ah well. I'm continuing this story, so keep reading! Oh, I made some changes on Chapter 18, since there were several errors in the duel.

* * *

**King of Games**  
_Chapter 19_

**Yugi: 0**

Yugi stared wide-eyed as his Life Points went to 0. "I've been beaten?" he asked himself. "No...I failed...I'm sorry, Ishizu..." His platform rose to the top of the cage and his monsters were sent to the graveyard.

"Yugi!" cried Sakura.

"No! We can't do this without you!" shouted TK.

* * *

"Yugi lost?" whispered Madison. 

"No way," said Ken. "He's the best there is. If he couldn't..."

"TK and Sakura are finished," muttered Tai. "Damn you, Yugi! You just cost us the Digital World and Kari!"

"Calm down, Tai," assured Li. "TK and Sakura are still there! They'll pull through!"

"Yugi was only trying to help," Téa told him.

"Well he didn't help enough," muttered Matt.

"We can't put all the blame on Yugi," said Joey. "The game is still on. TK has some powerful monsters on the field! It'll give them an edge. Trust me."

"For your sake, Joey, I hope you're right," Izzy told him. "Tai and Matt will kill you if Kari and TK aren't home safely by the end of the day."

* * *

'Yugi's out of the match, and it's all my fault!' TK thought angrily. 'Without Yugi to help us out, we're through! I've just lost out chances to beat the Game Card and get Kari back!' He slammed his fist against the dueling platform and began sobbing. 'Why am I such a failure! Why! I lost to Sakura in Kaiba Land and I took out one of my own teammates! I'm worthless! I'll never be able to get Kari back and I'll have failed the Digital World too!' 

"TK?" Sakura whispered. "TK? Come on, TK! TK!"

"If you do not attack, we'll skip your turn," said Kari. TK just kept staring at the field with a blank look in his eyes.

"Very well then. We're skipping your turn," The Dark Magician told him.

Kari drew her next card. "I'll pay the 1300 Life Points for my two Archfiend monsters first," said Kari.

**Kari: 1300**

"I'll now use Infernalqueen Archfiend's Ability to increase her own attack points by 1000!"

**Infernalqueen Archfiend - ATK: 1900/DEF: 1100**

"Next, I'll set a monster in defense mode. I'll now use the Magic Card Red Medicine to increase my Life Points by 500!"

**Kari: 1800**

"Now, I won't die once I pay the Life Points next turn. I'll play two cards face down and attack Hoshiningen with Infernalqueen Archfiend!" The female demon flung her cape at the small star and sliced it in two pieces.

**TK: 3100**

"Your monsters are now weaker because Hoshiningen increased their ability! And my monsters are now at their full strength!"

**Terrorking Archfiend -- ATK: 3500/DEF: 1100**

**Wingweaver -- ATK: 2750/DEF: 2400**

**Maha Vailo -- ATK: 2450/DEF: 1400**

"That will end my turn," said Kari. It was Sakura's move. After drawing her card, she smiled.

"Well, it looks like the Program's luck has run out!" chuckled Sakura. "I sacrifice Lady Panther and Fire Princess to summon my own Dark Magician!"

**Dark Magician -- ATK: 3000/DEF: 1700**

"Go Dark Magician! Destroy Mystic Tomato!" The black Dark Magician just stared blankly as his Mystic Tomato and his Life Points were gone.

**DM: 0**

"Nice work, Sakura!" Yugi called from above. Just then, Kero and Patamon woke up in their cages.

"What's going on?" asked Patamon. He looked down. "A duel? Kari! What's Kari doing there!"

"She's under the Game Card's control," Kero answered. "The only way for them to get her back is to duel her and win."

"Sakura just defeated the evil Dark Magician," Yugi told them. "Now its TK and Sakura battling Kari, but seeing how she dueled before this, it will still be a challenge to take her down."

"I'll end my turn," sighed Sakura. "TK, your move."

TK looked up at his final opponent and drew his card. "I'll play Pot of Greed to draw two cards. I'll now place one card face-down and equip Wingweaver with Silver Bow and Arrow to end my turn."

**Wingweaver -- ATK: 3050/DEF: 2700**

'He still refuses to attack her,' thought Sakura. 'Damn it. She has another chance to recuperate.'

"I'll start by paying the 1300 Life Points for my Archfiends," said Kari after drawing.

**Kari: 500**

"I'll use this turn to increase my Terrorking Archfiend's attack points by another 1000, thanks to his Queen's ability."

**Terrorking Archfiend -- ATK: 4500/DEF: 1100**

"I would attack you, Sakura, but I want that to wait for another turn or two. Your move."

'Why would she spare me?' wondered Sakura as she drew her next card.

"I now sacrifice Aqua Spirit to summon my Chaos Command Magician!"

**Chaos Command Magician -- ATK: 2400/DEF: 1900**

"This is the Dark Magician's light counterpart! I'll now use my Dark Magician to destroy your Infernalqueen Archfiend and the rest of your Lifepoints!" The Dark Magician fired a ball of dark energy at Kari.

"Activate Draining Shield," said Kari. A barrier formed around her and absorbed the attack. "This shield not only negates the attack of your monster but also absorbs its power into my own life points!"

**Kari: 3500**

'Shit, that wasn't supposed to happen,' thought Sakura. 'I was supposed to end the duel here and now so TK wouldn't have to attack Kari! Looks like all I can do is destroy that Queen now.'

"Chaos Command Magician! Destroy that Queen with Chaos Ray Attack!" Chaos Command Magician readied his staff and fired at the demon, but not before Kari activated her second trap.

"Negate Attack! Your Battle Phase ends now!"

"I couldn't even beat her then," muttered Sakura. "I guess I'll just have to hope TK can end this. Your move, TK."

TK looked at Kari and sighed. 'I have to attack her. If I want to save her, then attacking is my only option.' He drew his card. "Wingweaver! Attack Infernalqueen Archfiend with your Silver Bow and Arrow! Arrow of Light attack!" Wingweaver pulled back on the bow and the arrow lit up, similar to Angewomon's Celestial Arrow attack. She fired it into the heart of the queen and the demon exploded. What TK saw after the dust cleared, however, made him lose all courage of attacking again. He saw a gash on Kari's arm, presumably from the arrow, and he looked into Kari's eyes, and saw that they were her own.

TK almost fell off his platform. 'No...' he thought. 'No! I hurt her! I hurt Kari!'

"TK..." Kari whispered, before her eyes became empty again. "Your attack hurt your friend, Child of Hope. I believe that you don't want to continue this turn?" TK stared at her and shook his head.

"Your move..."

**Kari: 2350**

Kari drew her next card with her wounded arm. "I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards," she told him. "I now play Mystical Space Typhoon to undo the Spellbinding Circle holding my Terrorking in place. Now, after setting a card face-down on the field, I attack Dark Magician with Terrorking Archfiend!" The Archfiend swung his sword and destroyed Sakura's Dark Magician.

**Sakura: 4500**

"That will end my turn," said Kari.

'That Archfiend is way too powerful for any of our monsters!' Sakura thought worriedly. She knew that the only way to win would be to get past Kari's Archfiend, but there was no way a monster that powerful could be beaten without strategy. Sakura drew her next card and sighed. It wasn't a helpful one.

"I'll switch Dark Magician and Chaos Command Magician to Defense mode," said Sakura. "I'll end my turn there."

TK drew his next card. "Shit," he muttered. "I'll switch Maha Vailo and Wingweaver into Defense Mode to end my turn."

"Judging by how you two are playing I'd say you've run out of useful cards," said Kari as she drew her next card. "But thanks to the Game Card, my deck is never out of strategy! First I pay the 800 Life Points for my Terrorking Archfiend."

**Kari: 1550**

"Next, I play Card of Sanctity, to draw until all of us have six cards in our hands." TK and Sakura drew their cards, hoping that they could get some strategy as to how to defeat Terrorking Archfiend. "I now play Dark Bishop Archfiend in Attack Mode!"

**Darkbishop Archfiend -- ATK: 300/DEF: 1400**

"Now, I equip Terrorking Archfiend with Axe of Despair, raising his attack to an unstoppable 5500!"

**Terrorking Archfiend -- ATK: 5500/DEF: 1100**

"Finally, to complete my strategy, I play the magic card Checkmate!"

"Checkmate?" gasped TK. "I've heard of that card!"

"It allows my Terrorking Archfiend to attack directly this turn, at a cost of one Archfiend. My Darkbishop is the piece that is sacrificed to lead the king to victory." Sakura could only stare at the hulking figure of Terrorking Archfiend as it made its way over to her side of the field. Kari smirked. "Checkmate, Sakura." The demon king swung his sword at Sakura, depleting the rest of her life points.

"Now, I use my face-down card, Sebek's Blessing, to increase my Life Points by the amount you were just dealt. Good-bye, Sakura."

**Kari: 6050**

**Sakura: 0**

"Sakura! No!" cried TK. He watched as his friend's monsters were sent to the Graveyard and her platform rose to trap her in the cages about the field. "No! Yugi, Sakura! Please! I can't do this without you!" TK fell to his knees. "No...I can't do this without you..." TK slowly got up and looked at Kari and the mark on her arm from his earlier attack. "I can't fight her..."

* * *

To be continued... 


	21. Digital Duel: Part V: United We Stand

**King of Games**  
_Chapter 20_

The Chosen Children, the Card Captors, and the Duelists all watched intently as the scene unfolded. They watched as Sakura was defeated by Kari and watched TK lose all of his courage.

"TK," whispered Sora. As the bearer of Love, she felt every bit of pain from the younger boy. She knew that trying to fight Kari was a losing battle. She knew that no one, especially TK, would even think about attacking a loved one if it risked harming them.

"Poor TK," sighed Mimi.

"The choice he must make isn't an easy one," said Li. "Let's hope he makes the right one." While Li was a bit more vague in his hopes, Davis slammed his fist on the desk and put everything bluntly.

"SUCK IT UP, MAN! ATTACK HER OR LOSE HER FOREVER!" (A/N: Haha, I read your review, kingdom219. I thought, 'How fitting for a Davis quote.' The credit for this quote goes to you!)

* * *

"It's your move, TK," chuckled Kari. "Unless you want to forfeit." 

"Don't give up, TK!" shouted Sakura. "You can win! You can turn this game around!"

"I can't attack her," whispered TK, tears forcing themselves out of his eyes. "Not if it will hurt her. I promised myself I'd never harm her in any way."

"TK! If you don't do something, her Terrorking Archfiend will destroy you!" shouted Yugi. "You cannot let that happen! The fate of both worlds are in your hands, and you are capable of saving everyone! TK! Are you even listening?"

TK just kept staring at his deck.

"Would you prefer I skip your turn, Chosen of Hope?" asked Kari. "I'm very anxious to continue." TK just stared blankly at his cards, trying desperately to force his tears back. Kari grew impatient, and finally told him. "Very well, we'll skip your turn again." She drew her next card.

**TK: 3100  
Kari: 6050**

Kari smirked. "I first pay 800 Life Points for Terrorking Archfiend."

**Kari: 5250**

"In the unlikely event that you do destroy my Terrorking, I summon Desrook Archfiend in attack mode!"

**Desrook Archfiend -- ATK: 1100/DEF: 1800**

"Now, I play Mystic Wok to sacrifice Desrook Archfiend and raise my life points by Desrook's defense points!"

**Kari: 7050**

"My Life Points will be a challenge for you to take down even if you defeat my Terrorking! Unlike some duelists, I know my monsters are not unbeatable, and am prepared to face them even after my monster is destroyed. I now have Terrorking Archfiend destroy that Maha Vailo of yours!" Terrorking Archfiend swung his mighty Axe of Despair and cut Maha Vailo in half.

**TK: 3100**

"Since that Maha Vailo was in defense mode, you lose no life points, but you're one more monster down from losing everything. I was expecting more of a challenge out of the one Kari admired so much." This caught TK's attention.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"When I took control over Kari, I read her mind," said the possessed Kari. "She admired you, her best friend. She thought you were strong, but I see who you really are. A coward! She's thinking right now that you're weak. She wishes instead of you, it was her brother who came for her, because he knows what courage truly is!"

"No..." whispered TK. "Kari would never..."

"Kari keeps her feelings to herself. But she sees you now as the weakest person she has ever met. Maybe you don't really care about her after all!"

"I care about her!" shouted TK. "That's why I don't want to hurt her!"

"Pathetic," muttered Kari. "Your move, unless you want to skip your turn again!"

"No," said TK. "I don't." He drew his next card. "I play one card face down and end my turn."

Kari drew. "I play Stop Defense on your Wingweaver, switching her back into attack mode! Terrorking Archfiend, destroy her!"

**TK: 650  
Kari: 6250**

"I just destroyed your last monster, Child of Hope. It's your last move, now, TK."

"He must get a good card or he's finished," said Yugi.

"I know TK will win," Sakura told him. "If he doesn't, we're all doomed. I'm sure the card he drew will defeat Kari."

"I pass this turn," said TK.

"Or not..." groaned Sakura. Yugi sighed.

"Perhaps he didn't have enough faith in his cards."

"You pass? Very well then! I draw my next card and attack with..."

"Wait!" shouted TK. "Please...Let me see the real Kari once again...I might never see her again after this..."

Kari sighed. "Very well." A bright light emitted from Kari's eyes, and after a couple of seconds, they were her own.

"Kari!" TK called. Kari looked at him.

"TK..."

"Kari, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I was supposed to protect you, and..." He looked over at her and saw the girl smile at him. 'She's smiling at me?' he wondered. 'But...I...' Suddenly, her eyes became blank again.

"I have fulfilled your request, Child of Hope. Now, you will be destroyed by my Terrorking Archfiend's attack! Destroy the Child of Hope with Axe of Despair!" Terrorking Archfiend swung his axe at TK, which he stood calmly through.

"I discard Kuriboh to negate the attack," he told Kari. "I live for one more turn."

**TK: 650  
Kari: 5450**

"This is becoming annoying, TK," said Kari. "Very well, your move."

'Her smile,' thought TK. 'When she was sucked into the Dark Ocean the first time, she never smiled that whole day...but when I came for her...she smiled and that gave me satisfaction...' He looked at Kari, who still had her emotionless stare. 'I know what I'm fighting for now! Her smile! Her safety is important, but if she isn't happy, then its pointless! She'd rather be hurt a little than stay under mind control by the Game Card, so I know I have to win!'

Yugi and Sakura watched from above. "Do you think TK has any chance left?" asked Sakura. Yugi smiled.

"Only if he believes he does."

* * *

"Come on, bro," whispered Matt. 

"We're all behind you," said Tea, putting her hand on Sora's.

"Everything is riding on that next card, TK," said Li, putting his hand on Tai's. "Everything..." Everyone watching put their hands together, like Tea, Joey, and Tristan did for Yugi, in hopes that they could somehow make TK's last card a good one.

* * *

'Yugi said that if I can't afford to lose, I should believe in the Heart of the Cards,' thought TK. 'Now I know. Sakura and I both believed in our decks, but Sakura also couldn't afford to lose, and her mission was for the world and not just one person. I have to believe in my deck now. Hope is my special quality, and now it's what I have to use to save Kari.' TK slowly drew his last card. 'Somehow, it feels like all my friends are in this next card. It makes me feel like this last card will save me.' He drew it and smiled. 

"I play Double Spell! It allows me to use one magic card in your graveyard at the cost of one magic card from my hand, so I discard Novox's Prayer to use Pot of Greed!" TK drew two cards, believing that his friends were behind each one, and when he looked at them, he smiled. "This is most definitely my last turn, Kari, because I believe I win. I summon Black Luster Soldier, Envoy of the Beginning!"

"What?" asked Kari. "Where did you get a card that rare?"

"Yugi's grandfather gave it to me," said TK. "It needs to be summoned by removing a Dark and a Light monster from my graveyard, and since we share a graveyard, I remove Yugi's Dark Magician and Sakura's Chaos Command Magician from play!"

**Black Luster Soldier, Envoy of the Beginning -- ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500**

"Next, I equip my monster with Angelic Wing!" (A/N: This is the card TK got from the tournament, in case you forgot. It's my own original card, and I said that I'd explain its effect later in the story. Well, it's later, so here it is!)

"Angelic Wing turns my monster into a Fairy-type monster, so behold as my Soldier transforms into..."

Black Luster Soldier started to grow eight wings. Four of them spread outward, two of them folded over its shoulders, and two of them cross over its waist. (A/N: Think MagnaAngemon's wings.) His sword changed from a scimitar to a longsword. His shield's emblem of a demon skull turned into a sun with 8 rays emitting from it. The final change was the appearance of a halo over his black helmet.

"...Black Luster Seraph!"

**Black Luster Seraph -- ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500**

A light emitted from TK's new angel as it descended to the field. Kari just stared in awe. "Black Luster Seraph? How could it be?"

"He still isn't strong enough to destroy your Archfiend, so I equip him with Megamorph! It doubles his attack power as long as my Life Points are lower than yours!"

**Black Luster Seraph -- ATK: 6000/DEF: 2500**

"Now that he's a fairy-type monster, I can equip him with my final equip magic card, Cestus of Dagla, raising his attack power to 6500!"

**Black Luster Seraph -- ATK: 6500/DEF: 2500**

"I still have enough Life Points to finish you off, Takeru," said Kari. "I can defeat you after this turn is over!"

"When this turn is over, Kari, I win," said TK. "I activate my face-down card, Gift of the Mystical Elf, to raise my Life Points by 300 for every monster on the field, so I raise my Life Points by 600!"

**TK: 1250  
Kari: 5450**

"Now I play Soul of the Pure to raise my attack points by another 800!"

**TK: 2050  
Kari: 5450**

"Now that my Life Points are over 2000, I play Dimension Fusion! This card allows both of us to summon monsters that have been removed from play at a cost of 2000 of my Life Points! I choose to summon the Dark Magician and Chaos Command Magician I just removed from play!"

A portal appeared where TK's card was and the Dark Magician and Chaos Command Magician both leapt out of it, ready to battle. TK's Lifepoints then lowered when the portal disappeared.

**TK: 50  
Kari: 5450**

**Dark Magician -- ATK: 3000/DEF: 1700**

**Chaos Command Magician -- ATK: 2400/DEF: 1900**

"Three of our strongest monsters are on the field now, Kari!" said TK. "Even after they were taken out of the duel, Yugi and Sakura continue to help me throughout this whole duel!"

"Alright, TK!" shouted Sakura.

"Great move, TK!" Yugi called out.

"The Child of Hope has tremendous skill," smiled the Black Dark Magician. Piedmon just growled.

"I understand why Kari admires you so much," said the possessed Kari.

"Black Luster Seraph! Destroy Terrorking Archfiend! Blade of Destiny!" The angel flew over to the hulking demon and cut through its skull and continued straight through its whole body.

**Kari: 4450**

"Dark Magician! Chaos Command Magician! Combine your attacks into one! Finish off her Life Points!" The two spellcasters put the tips of their staffs together and began to charge their magic. After a few seconds, they fired. The dark and light magic spiralled oppositely and flew toward Kari and hit their target.

**TK: 50  
Kari: 0**

After the dust cleared, TK saw the possessed Kari stare at him, breathing heavily. The two had a staring contest for a few moments before Kari's lips upturned. TK's eyes widened. The possessed Kari was smiling!

"Congratulations, TK. You win," said Kari. The cages lowered to the field and opened, allowing Yugi, Sakura, Kero, Patamon, the Dark Magician, and Piedmon out. Sakura ran over and hugged TK, and Yugi high fived him. The King of Games then turned to the Dark Magician.

"We won. Now, hand over the Game Card and Kari." Kero's ears perked up at this.

"Um...there's something I forgot to mention," said the small flying bear. "The Game Card isn't an ordinary Clow Card."

"What?" asked Sakura.

"Clow Reed made it in honor of the Pharaoh, but the Pharaoh insisted that it not be a true card," Kero told her. "So, when the time comes that the Game Card loses a game, it's destroyed."

"So wait, we went through all that and I don't even get a Clow Card?" demanded Sakura. Kero sweatdropped and nodded.

"Kinda ironic, isn't it?" Sakura responded with a groan.

"If you didn't go through everything Sakura, the Game Card would never have been at peace like it is now," Kari told her.

"Are you leaving now?" asked TK. Kari nodded.

"I'll release possession of Kari now." She closed her eyes, and a light shone from her heart. The Dark Magician did the same thing. After a few seconds, the light became brighter and the three duelists had to shield their eyes from the intensity. Once it subsided, Kari fell forward into TK's arms, and the Dark Magician disintegrated. Sakura then found a card in her hand. It had a picture of a boy with hair like Yugi's and several stone tablets surrounding him. On the bottom of the card was the word "Game". It remained in her hand for some time before disintegrating.

"I guess that's the card's way of saying good-bye," sighed Yugi. Sakura nodded in agreement. TK carried Kari in his arms and smiled at his two friends. "Come on, guys. Let's go home." The door at the end of the room opened, and a bridge materialized right in front of them.

Just then, a tall figure leapt over to block the way out. "Did you forget about me?" laughed Piedmon. "Now that the Game Card is gone, I'm not bounded to these silly games anymore! I can destroy you as I wish!" Piedmon drew two swords from his back and flew forward to attack. Patamon stepped forward.

"Patamon digivolve to...Angemon!"

The angel digimon stepped on the bridge in front of Piedmon, blocking the swords with his staff.

"That's Patamon's other form?" asked Sakura. TK nodded.

"So that's why you have so many angel cards," smiled Yugi.

"Piedmon, you dishonored the terms that we agreed upon," said TK. "Now, I think you'll face firsthand what teamwork really is." He nodded to Sakura and Yugi. Sakura pulled out her Clow Cards. "Alright! Go Shield Card!"

Piedmon was about to thrust the second sword into Angemon's abdomen, when he found it was blocked by some sort of forcefield. In fact, he realized he couldn't move more than an inch.

"The Shield Card has encompassed him in an impenetrable shell," said Sakura. "Your turn, Yugi." Yugi nodded and the Eye of Anubis glowed on his forehead.

"Piedmon, you didn't follow the terms promised at the start of the duel," said Yugi. "Your dishonor disgusts me. The Gates of Darkness have opened! _I_ decide your fate!" He held his hand forward. "**MIND CRUSH!**" Piedmon's eyes suddenly became blank and lifeless. After falling forward onto the shell, he disintegrated. Yugi lowered his hand.

"Hm, guess the effect is different on digital beings," he chuckled.

"You could do that the whole time?" asked TK. Yugi shook his head.

"I could only use it if the opponent lost a shadow game and then went against his word. Piedmon did just that. Unknown to you two, every game the Game Card played was a Shadow Game, albeit a different sort of Shadow Game. Instead of destroying their minds, the victims lose control of their minds to the Game Card."

"Then that whole thing about Clow Reed visiting Egypt was true?" asked Sakura. Yugi nodded.

"Apparently so. Who knew our fates could be so closely weaved?"

TK got up with Kari still in his arms. "Let's go home."

* * *

As soon as they left the Castle of Dark Illusions, it collapsed. When they got out, they found Tai and Matt waiting for them. 

"Matt? Tai?" asked TK. Tai nodded and smiled.

"TK, I'm proud of you. You protected Kari just like you promised all those years ago."

"How did you arrive?" asked Yugi. "Weren't the Digiports locked?"

"After you guys finished your duel with the Game Card, they opened again," said Matt.

"I see," smiled Sakura. After a second, the smile was replaced by a look of confusion. "How did you know we were dueling?"

"Big Brother sees all," chuckled Tai. Matt rolled his eyes. "Okay bad joke. We'll tell you when we get home."

TK looked at Yugi and Sakura and smiled. After six days of dueling, the nightmare was finally over. Both worlds were safe from the Game Card, and Kari was back where she belonged. As the Digiport pulled them back to the Real World, the three thought back to their adventure: Meeting, Sharing Secrets, Dueling in a Tournament, and Dueling in the Digital World. It was an experience that none of them would ever forget.

* * *

To be continued... 

The duel is over and TK emerges victorious! I hope I made this duel dramatic enough, and I hope you enjoyed my own created cards: Angelic Wing and Black Luster Seraph. There'll probably be only one chapter left, which will be up in a little over a month since I leave for China tomorrow morning. Hope you enjoyed! Review!


	22. Horizons

Here it is! The last chapter of King of Games! I really enjoyed writing this crossover, which I believed ended up very good. So, without further ado, I present the final chapter of this three-way-crossover. Enjoy!

* * *

**King of Games**  
_Chapter 21_

"Man, finally, we really got to enjoy Tokyo!" sighed Sakura. After TK, Yugi, and Sakura arrived back from the Digital World and dueled the Game Card, the three of them fell asleep before even hitting a bed. It was now the seventh and last day for Yugi and Sakura's group, and Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya made sure that they were going to enjoy it by making the last day on them. It was the least they could do after everything they did. Kari was back with them at last. Gatomon, who had been sulking in Kari's room refusing to come out, was especially happy to see her again. Now, the digimon were all hanging out in the Kamiya's apartment while their partners and their friends went out to see Tokyo.

"We must have been to everything here," laughed TK. "Man, I'm bushed."

"Hey, is that a ferris wheel?" asked Tristan, pointing. "Man, it's huge!"

Tai laughed. "You've been hanging out in Odaiba for this whole time and you never noticed that?"

"It's one of the largest in the world," said Ken. "And offers one of the most beautiful views of our district at night."

"It's almost nighttime. We should get a great view," said Yugi. "What do you say we make this our final memory of our trip?" Joey, Tristan, and Téa all agreed.

"What do you guys think?" Sakura asked Li and Madison. They both nodded.

"Sweet! We get to ride on the ferris wheel!" Davis said.

"What do you say we call it a date?" asked Meilin, making him blush. "You did want to go out while we could." This made TK laugh.

"Davis, you really asked her out?" asked Kari. Davis nodded.

"Yeah. Kari, it's easy for me to see that you and TS belong together. I mean, look what he did to save you! As a friend, I'm stepping back and letting you two get together." TK and Kari smiled.

"Thanks, man," said TK, and whispered, "Besides, she's pretty cute." Both guys shared a laugh.

* * *

The line in front of the ferris wheel was long, but worth the wait, especially since the group got to see the wheel light up as the sun fell into the west and night engulfed Japan. It was awe-inspiring watching the ferris wheel's changing patterns of flourescent lights illuminate the area. 

"Wow," sighed Téa. "It's so beautiful."

"Hey Téa!" shouted Sakura. "Come on, hop in!" Téa looked over to see TK, Kari, Sakura, Li, and Yugi sitting in a six passenger seat. She quickly ran over to them and sat next to Yugi. The huge ferris wheel began to slowly lift them over the city.

"I'm glad we chose this," smiled Sakura, laying her head on Li's shoulder. "We've been through a lot, and this peaceful setting is just what we needed."

"I agree," Yugi told her. "It's everything we could have asked for to end our trip." As he said this, he looked at the girl sitting next to him, who was busy enjoying the spectacular view of the city, which was lit brightly.

"This past week has been really stressful," sighed TK.

**_Flashback_**

_"TK!" shouted Kari, pushing him aside from the Dark Magician's attack only to be hit herself. TK looked back in horror._

_"Kari!" he cried. He began to run over to Kari's unconscious body, but stopped as the Dark Magician blocked him and glared at him with his evil yellow eyes. TK glared back. "YOU!"_

_"Duel..." he whispered, as he picked up her unconscious body, with Gatomon shouting at him._

_"Let her go, you creep!" And with that, he disappeared._

**_End Flashback_**

The group of six neared the middle of the ferris wheel, and the view became even more beautiful. The view was of the bay, and the lights of the city were reflected on the waves, making it seem as if the stars had fallen into the waters of Tokyo and burned brightly for all to share.

Li spoke up. "But if you hadn't been so stressed, TK, we never would have met, remember?"

Sakura laughed. "Yeah, if you hadn't been watching where you were going, we never would have bumped into each other."

**_Flashback_**

_TK felt as guilty as ever as he trudged home staring at his feet. Suddenly, he bumped into Sakura, who fell over._

_"Oh, sorry," he apologized quickly and helped her up._

_"Sakura, are you okay?" asked Madison running over to her._

_"Yeah, fine," Sakura smiled. "It was an..."_

_"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM!" Li yelled at TK._

_"Li, calm down, it was an accident," Sakura assured him. She turned to the blond. "Sorry about my boyfriend's behavior, but he's just a bit overprotective of me."_

_"Yeah, I know someone like that," TK cracked a smile. "Sorry about that, I've just had a lot on my mind."_

_"Hey, maybe you could give us directions!" Madison piped up. "Do you know where the Odaiba Hotel is?"_

_"The hotel? That's only a block away from my place, I can show you there."_

_"Great!" Sakura laughed. "It was a stroke of luck that we bumped into you, Mr..."_

_"Takaishi. My name is TK Takaishi."_

_"I'm Sakura Avalon and this is my best friend, Madison. Over there's my boyfriend, Li."_

**_End Flashback_**

TK laughed at the memory. "You were pretty protective about Sakura, weren't you, Li?" Li laughed as well.

"I also had an interview with your mom at the time, remember?" asked Yugi. "And we met because of that."

**_Flashback_**

_TK walked through his door and kicked his shoes off. As he walked in, he shouted, "I'm home!"_

_"TK, you're here!" cried his mother._

_"Yeah, sorry, I got a little side..." TK walked in and saw Yugi. "...tracked."_

_"So, you're Takeru Takaishi, I presume," Yugi smiled at him._

_"Y-Yugi Moto!" TK gasped. "You're our guest?"_

**_End Flashback_**

"You forgot about me?" pouted Kari, though she was still smiling.

"Of course not, Kar," laughed TK. "It's just that Yugi's famous and I was always hoping to meet him since I became interested in Duel Monsters."

"Yeah, I watched as you beat Joey," said Téa. "He'd better get better fast if he wants to make it in Battle City."

"Those duels we had were intense, though," Sakura said. "After my duel with Davis, we went to Domino City and played in that tournament."

**_Flashback_**

_TK was facing Weevil's Insect Queen, who attacked TK's Shining Fairy._

_"Just as I thought," laughed TK. "By attacking, you've activated my trap card! I hope your Queen had a nice main course, because she's getting Just Desserts! This trap card deals 500 points of direct damage to you for every monster on your side of the field. Insect Queen, Flying Kamakiri, and Gokibore, that's 1500 damage, bringing your Life Points down to 0!"_

**_End Flashback_**

**_Flashback_**

_Sakura was dueling Rebecca and had a Buster Blader against her Shadow Ghoul and La Jinn. "I activate my DNA Surgery! It can change all of the monsters on the field to a monster type of my choosing, and I'll choose Dragons!" As the trap activated, all of the monsters on the field began a transformation and grew wings and fangs."And since you have two monsters on your side of the field, my Buster Blader gains 1000 Attack points!"_

**_Buster Blader -- ATK: 3600/DEF: 2300_**

**_End Flashback_**

**_Flashback_**

_"This treatment too complex for you, Dr. Virus?" laughed TK. "Let me put it simply. Hoshiningen powers up the Attack of all Light monsters by 500 points!"_

_"Wh-What!" gasped Jeremy. "Impossible!"_

_"That's right," laughed TK. "500 extra for each Hoshiningen"  
_

_** Hoshiningen -- ATK: 1500/DEF: 700**_

**_Skull Guardian -- ATK: 3050/DEF: 2500_**

**_Hoshinengen -- ATK: 1500/DEF: 700_**

_End Flashback_

**_Flashback_**

**_Sakura: 3500 Pyra: 1000_**

_"And now, to finish the game! It ends when I play the magic card, Pot of Greed! I get to draw 2 cards, meaning Solemn Wishes activates twice, and Fire Princess uses her ability twice! Your Life points are gone, Pyra Vulcan!" Sakura said._

**_End Flashback_**

**_Flashback_**

_"I'm not backing down, TK," smiled Sakura. "You're not the only one who's determined to win. I have a reason too...and it was reason enough for my deck to throw the right card out for me. I'm playing Change of Heart!"_

_"Change of Heart!" gasped TK. "That means..."_

_"Skull Guardian belongs to me for this turn," Sakura finished for him. The twin bladed Warrior moved to Sakura's side of the field. Tears began to fill Sakura's eyes. "TK...this is the hardest move I ever had to make ever since I started Duel Monsters."_

_TK nodded, putting on a fake smile. "Sakura...go through with it. Win the tournament..."_

_The Card Captor smiled at the Chosen of Hope. "You've got what it takes to rescue Kari, TK. You're a great duelist. Skull Guardian, attack his Life Points Directly! TWIN BLADE STRIKE!" TK's monster leapt toward him, ready to win this duel for his opponent._

_'I failed, Kari,' he thought to himself. 'But I'm still coming back to find you...I'll duel for you in the Digital World…'_

_Skull Guardian slashed at his Life Points directly, lowering them to 0._

**_TK: 0 Sakura: 50_**

**_End Flashback_**

The Ferris Wheel neared the top, and everyone looked out at the bay. It almost seemed as if they could see all of Tokyo, lit up as bright as day. "Hey, I think I see Highton View Terrace," said Kari.

"Oh yea, that place," sighed Téa. "The place where all those monsters came in through that rift."

"The place where I fought a Digimon," Li said.

**_Flashback_**

_Li had his sword out against a Musyamon. In the background, Stingmon was trying to free himself from Kuwagamon, Togemon was boxing with a Frigimon, Ikkakumon was clashing horns with Drimogemon, Greymon was wrestling with Tuskmon, Birdramon and Airdramon were battling in the air, Kabuterimon had his hands full against the fully recovered Snimon, Garurumon was fending off Mammothmon. Shurimon and Digmon had just digivolved but were barred from helping the chinese boy when Ninjamon and Meramon showed up. It was clear that Li was fighting the samurai digimon alone._

_After blocking strike after strike from Musyamon, Li slipped on a puddle and fell on his butt. Musyamon stepped in the puddle in front of Li and raised his blade._

_"Shogun Sword!"_

_"Lightning!" shouted Li, pulling out a piece of parchment and pressing it against his sword, firing several thousand volts of electricity into the puddle Musyamon was standing in. The mutant digimon was electrocuted and fell backward in a daze._

**_End Flashback_**

"Incredible! You fought a Musyamon all by yourself?" exclaimed TK.

Li nodded. "Hey, I didn't train all that time in China for nothing."

"And finally came the fated duel with the Game Card," Yugi said.

"Yeah, we were all watching," said Téa. "When Yugi was defeated, we didn't think that you two would make it.

"But we did make it," said Sakura.

"And in the end, the final move was from all of us," said TK.

**_Flashback_**

_"I play Dimension Fusion! This card allows both of us to summon monsters that have been removed from play at a cost of 2000 of my Life Points! I choose to summon the Dark Magician and Chaos Command Magician I just removed from play!"_

_A portal appeared where TK's card was and the Dark Magician and Chaos Command Magician both leapt out of it, ready to battle. TK's Lifepoints then lowered when the portal disappeared._

**_TK: 50 Kari: 5450_**

**_Black Luster Seraph -- ATK: 6500/DEF: 2500_**

**_Dark Magician -- ATK: 3000/DEF: 1700_**

**_Chaos Command Magician -- ATK: 2400/DEF: 1900_**

_"Three of our strongest monsters are on the field now, Kari!" said TK. "Even after they were taken out of the duel, Yugi and Sakura continue to help me throughout this whole duel!"_

_"I understand why Kari admires you so much," said the possessed Kari._

_"Black Luster Seraph! Destroy Terrorking Archfiend! Blade of Destiny!" The angel flew over to the hulking demon and cut through its skull and continued straight through its whole body._

**_Kari: 4450_**

_"Dark Magician! Chaos Command Magician! Combine your attacks into one! Finish off her Life Points!" The two spellcasters put the tips of their staffs together and began to charge their magic. After a few seconds, they fired. The dark and light magic spiralled oppositely and flew toward Kari and hit their target._

**_TK: 50 Kari: 0_**

**_End Flashback_**

The ferris wheel descended to the ground, and all six teenagers jumped out. "That view was beautiful," sighed Kari. "Do you think we'll come here again?"

"If you'd like, sure," TK smiled. Kari blushed a little but smiled as well. Sakura and Téa shared knowing looks, and Li and Yugi were shaking their heads.

After the rest of the group joined them, they walked back to where they were staying, finally relaxed from a gruesome week.

* * *

Early the next morning, before the sun was up, everyone was gathered at the train station to see off Sakura, Madison, and Li. 

"I guess this is good-bye," sighed Sakura. "Yugi, TK, it was fun dueling with you guys."

"And I'm sure we'll see you at Battle City," said Yugi.

"There was one thing that I really liked about this trip, and that was meeting you guys," said Madison.

"We're really glad to have made good friends in Tokyo," said Li. "Well, I guess we'll see you later."

"Right," nodded TK. "Sakura, thanks for everything." She shook her head.

"No. Thank _you_ for everything." With that, the three teenagers boarded the train. They waved goodbye from the window as the train left the station.

The rest of the group walked out of the station and called a taxi. "You know, Meilin, I could give you a ride to the airport," Nancy told the girl.

Meilin shook her head. "I really don't want to burden you with our group. I think Matt can tell you how much of a pain we were." This made Nancy chuckle.

"Anyway, I hope to see you guys again," Meilin said. Before she got in the cab, though, she walked over to Davis. "I especially hope to see you again, goggle-boy." She gave him a kiss on the lips and then ran off into the taxi. Davis was just standing there blushing, with everyone else snickering at the stupid look on his face.

Yugi's group called for another cab to take them to the bus station.

"TK, you'd better be at Battle City," said Joey as he got in the cab. "I'll be looking forward to a rematch."

"Will do," laughed TK. "I hope to see you there."

"It was great hanging out with you guys," said Tristan, getting in. "I hope we'll see each other again."

"I think we will," said Kari. "See ya!"

Téa got in next. "We're glad we came to Tokyo and became friends," she told them. "Don't forget about us!"

"As long as you don't forget about us," said Kari. Yugi was the last one to sit down.

"Yugi, it was an honor dueling alongside the King of Games," said TK. Yugi shook his head.

"No, TK. The honor was all mine." And with that, they said good-bye and left. "Hey mom, think you can take Davis back to his place?" TK asked. Nancy nodded. TK and Kari called a cab.

TK looked at his mother. "Hey mom, can you take Davis home? Kari and I are going to go to the park."

"Sure, TK. Have fun you two!" With that, TK and Kari hopped in the cab. Nancy turned to Davis who still had the stupid smile plastered on his face.

"Alright, Romeo. Snap out of it. I'm taking you home."

* * *

At the bus station, Yugi was coming back from the bathroom when he heard someone call his name. He looked over to see Ishizu standing against the railing. Yugi's Millenium Puzzle began to glow and he turned into Yami Yugi. 

"I'm sorry, Ishizu, but I was beaten. I don't know if I am ready to face the Egyptian God Cards," he told her. Ishizu shook her head.

"You led TK and Sakura bravely, Pharaoh. The truth is that if you were not there, TK would not have gained control of his fear and won so valiantly. Sakura would not have had the confidence of a True Duelist to battle the ultimate winner. You are no doubt the Pharaoh of legend and I am sure you will prevail in Battle City."

Yami Yugi smiled at this. "Thank you, Ishizu. I'm also sure I'll do well, because I now have many more friends to support me." And with that, he turned back into Yugi and left.

As the bus left the station, Yugi, Joey, Téa, and Tristan looked out at the city of Tokyo, where so much had happened in the past week. Sakura, Li, and Madison were doing the same thing from their train.

And meanwhile, Light and Hope were sitting under a cherry tree, united in a kiss as the sun rose over the horizon.

_fin_


End file.
